Soot in the Snow
by Wolfi-Chan
Summary: When a blizzard disorientates the Elric brothers, Edward and Alphonse end up in Drachma. Quickly learning about the mysterious Alchemy that Drachma had banned, they decide to pursue the secrets Drachma has hidden from the world. However, sometimes the truth is just as cruel as the lies. {For FMA Big Bang Challenge 2014} (Warning: death is mentioned later on.)
1. Chapter 1

Bits of ice and snow sailed through the frigid air. It stung at Edward's face as he continued trudging through the deep drifts. Al remained closely behind his brother, head whipped to the side on occasion to try to see into the blurred white terrain. The visibility was only a few feet in diameter and not much more.

Glancing back at his younger brother, Ed called out, "You see any of them!?"

"No!" A l replied over the howling winds.

"Great," Ed muttered as he turned his head to see what lay ahead. Even if he couldn't see them, Ed knew those wolves were still targeting them from afar. They were like phantoms in this weather, their panting masked by the wind and their white coats blurred by the curtain of falling snow; they would only be seen when they wanted to be seen. They wouldn't be turning back just yet either, not when they had followed their prey into a blizzard and that alone was weakening Ed for them.

"_Dammit, that stupid __town__Colonel Bastard__ was talking about should be __in__ view by now!"_ Ed thought, lifting up his left arm to shield his face from the ongoing blasting ice, his right already equipped with a blade. They must've been walking for hours now and all they could see was an endless white world in every direction. Then again, the brothers might simply be trekking in one wide circle for all they knew.

Taking one step then another, Ed gave a frustrated cry as his left leg buckled under him, forcing him to sink to his knees. "Brother!" Al cried out, coming to his brother's side. "Are you okay!?" Although Al would face no effects over such things like temperature, Edward was just as susceptible to its silent threats as any other human being was, for the fact he was equipped with Cold Weather automail instead of the regular steel ones.

Ed turned his head to confirm he was fine, but instead saw a large white wolf suddenly appear and lunge right at him. "_Get up!"_ He ordered his body, using his left arm in order to push himself up. It was quick enough to raise his blade and slash at the face of the animal, which gave a surprised yelp before darting back into the safety of the blinding white before Ed could take another swing, only leaving a thin trail of blood in its wake.

At about the same time, two others emerged from hiding, both more interested in the brother with flesh and blood rather than the armoured one. However, ignoring the younger brother was probably the worst mistake they made. Al moved with shocking reflexes, he grabbed both by the scruff of their necks and hurled them back to where they had appeared.

Suddenly a clear _bang_ cut cleanly through the noise of the storm, the loud sound startling all those who heard, including the boys.

"_There's actually someone out here!" _Al thought. It seemed to be a pleasant stroke of luck. With the sound so clear, it was easy to tell its source of direction. However, if whoever was out here was armed, it could be trouble. Looking back at Ed, Al could tell his brother was getting tired, the previous encounter with the wolves and the cold weather not helping Ed's condition.

"We should keep going, Brother," Al told him.

"Yeah, I'd rather not become a popsicle out here," Ed replied, continuing on with their march. It was impossible to tell how much time had gone by, the clouds blocking the sun made it seem like the night was coming close. However, the occasional gunshot echoed out into the world, seemingly increasing in volume. A low yet smooth voice suddenly called to them

"Здравствуйте!"

The foreign language certainly caught their attention if a human voice hadn't, interrupting their march for the time being. Both brothers twisted their bodies and necks in order to try to catch a glimpse of who, or possibly what, it could be. Ed raised his hands, cupping them around his mouth as he called back, "Hello!"

Only the forceful gales answered their call, no answer from the other individual. It was like they hadn't been there in the first place. _"Maybe it was just our minds playing with us," _Ed reasoned glumly, trying to find reason within the sudden disappearance. Ed opened his mouth to ask his brother if he had heard someone calling before the voice came again.

"What are you two doing out in blizzard!?" the voice spoke to their left. Upon turning around to meet the stranger, they instantly caught sight of the winter attire that seemed fitting for one to wear in this weather, looking thick and durable. Between all the articles of clothing and the poor visibility, it was impossible to see any true physical features other than the feminine voice.

"We're lost! Someone told us there was a town out here, do you know where it is!?" Al called back to the woman.

"Da, I know where town is. It two or three hours or so in right direction." The woman called back. "If you like you can stay at my place until blizzard stops. That or you can take chances with the wolves and the cold."

Ed scowled, the choices seemed unfavourable at the very least. He kept his golden eyes on the strap over the right shoulder of the foreigner, it looked to be a rifle of some sort. His instincts told him that if he took her offer, that gun would be the last thing he'd see, and he couldn't die before he got his brother's body back. However, the idea of a house seemed better than the endless white that left Ed with limited sight and wolves who would be there to crush his throat every time he stumbled.

Looking up at his little brother, gold met soul fire eyes, with a sigh he turned back to the woman and called back, "Sure, just don't even think about pointing that thing at us!" With that he clapped his hands and returned the blade back to regular automail.

"Deal," came the only reply, barely audible over the winds this time, before she turned around and melted into the surroundings. Both boys took off after her, their pace a little quicker in order to catch sight of the woman again.

The woman seemed like that of a ghost, her image flickering and even vanishing for brief moments at a time as she lead the way, her long white winter coat not exactly helping the brothers follow her. She was always just in view too, her pace quick and steady despite the weather around her. The longer they walked, the more Ed was sure that she had wandered through this cold climate before in such conditions, no hesitation lied in her steps, nor did she stop and look around.

Finally, after being guided practically blindly through the cruel weather, a house emerged within view. It stood alone, no other structures around it to signal any other forms of human life, yet kept still as if unfazed by the storm surrounding it. One thing that caught Al's attention was the single hitching post- like structure nearby the door, a lone rope tied to it. The rope had two knots he could see, suggesting the rope was linked to more than one. This theory was correct when he saw this rope lead all the way to the one that had lead them there, which he could now see had a great amount of rope on her hands. She simply walked over and freed the rope from its knot before moving to the door. The woman began to fumble between the heavy ropes in her arms and fiddling with the door.

Seeing her struggle, Al made his way and offered with an outstretched arm, "Do you want me to hold that for you?"

"Sure," came her reply, the decision coming quicker than Al thought. Within moments, the rope was slipped off the shoulder of the woman and into Al's hands. The armoured brother looked back to see where his brother was to find he was having a little trouble with the snow, the height of it starting to trip Ed up in more than one way.

It was only until the elder brother drew nearer that the stranger straightened and jerked the doorway open. Edward didn't waste a second, slipping in the first chance he had. Al and the woman calmly trailed behind, followed by the door being slammed roughly behind the them.

Ed pushed the hood off his head before taking off his bright red coat to hang it up on a low hook in the closet. The coat had certainly done its job, the change of temperature only prickled against his flesh, except for his face which was stinging.

"Where do you want me to put these?" Al asked, still carrying the ropes in his large arms.

"Just put it in here,"she spoke as she shrugged the hunting rifle off her shoulder and leaned it against the far wall of the closet. "I use it to find my way back in bad weather, mostly when I go to my hunting spot, not for going into town. Weather here can change with snap of fingers, so it nice to have around."

"I see, thank you for taking us in...umm," Al replied, placing the ropes by the rifle, the many coils wrapping around it and the rest on the gun.

Once she straightened, she spoke after a brief moment of silence. "Oh! I am Evalina Kolkov, but call me Eve. Sorry, I should have introduced myself earlier," the newly named Eve replied, chuckling at her small mistake.

Ed, who was about to head off into the main part of the house, couldn't help but look back at the woman. The surname was certainly a foreign one. Looking over his shoulder, intelligent golden eyes met obsidian black ones lightly curtained by inky black bangs. Gone were her goggles and hood but they only revealed features as black as coal as well as pale skin. She was first to break eye contact by lazily looking away, like there wasn't much to observe when it came to Edward. Then again, she knew Ed as being a simple boy, not a soldier of the military or anything.

"I'm Edward Elric," Ed turned around and spoke, holding out his hand for a handshake, which Eve didn't waste time in accepting.

"And I'm Alphonse Elric, his younger brother_," _Al replied, outstretching his hand in order to shake hers as well. As the two engage in a handshake, Ed wandered out of the entrance room and into the hallway. The hallway seemed simple enough, a table with a few objects on it, a staircase leading up to whatever lied on the second floor. On the other side of the hallway was a dull glow outlining the walls, furniture, and casting shadows of all kinds.

Passing several objects shrouded in darkness and the dim light giving some visibility in the otherwise dark house, Edward headed into the room at the end of the hallway. The room was a decently sized living room, including a fireplace that was still going, but could possibly last another half hour.

Despite the quiet crackling, the noise of the winds reminded Ed that parts of his body had not dried off yet. Clapping his hands, Ed pressed them to his chest to dry his hair and the rest of his clothing that the jacket had not covered. Blue light chased the shadows back into their dark corners and filled the room with light momentarily, putting the fire's light to shame. As fast as it came, the light vanished, leaving Ed dry once again.

Before the boy could turn to leave, he felt as if someone was watching him. Turning around, he saw both Al and Eve standing in the hallway. Ed could help but notice her expression. The same surprised expression he had seen many possess when they learned of his talent was there, but he also spotted that her eyes were lit with surprise and worry at the same time.

This emotion passed on quite quickly, as her grimace faded to a simple solemn expression. Walking into the room, she passed by Edward without a simple word to him, Alphonse walking in with usual heavy steps.

"You stay here for a long as you two like, da? I do not mind company..." she spoke as she crouched down by the fire, tending to it and her back to them.

"Thanks for the offer, but we'll be gone after this storm passes, right Al?" Ed spoke up as he took a seat on the edge of the couch, closest to the fire.

"Right," Al piped up in response.

There was a soft chuckle before Eve stood up and looked back at them, "No problem, offer will be still open anyways. Do you want me to get **something warm for you boys**?"

"Sure," Ed replied.

"No thanks," Al added.

She glanced a confused look at the younger brother before walking out of the lit area and into the darkened hall.

There was a period of quiet in the room, Ed peering at the many objects that refused to show him their form. The darkness still warped the house, robbing it of its true looks, and Ed wasn't sure whether to trust Eve just yet. However, Ed relaxed in his corner of the couch, glancing around the room from time to time in order to keep his eyes from shutting. From their long march that had been on for a good number of hours, Ed's tired body was beginning to insist that he sleep.

Eventually, his eyes caught that of Al, the light on his steel armour dwindling and brightening as the flames danced in the fire further away from him. Al then turned towards Ed after a moment of starring at a small frame with a darkened picture in it. "Sure was lucky we got to find this place, right Brother? I mean, we could've easily passed by her and this home. We'd probably still be out there now if that had happened."

"Yeah, that's for sure," Ed replied, stiffing a yawn.

"Eve seems like a nice person too. She didn't even hesitate to take us in."

Al, despite being the one with empty armour for a body, was obviously grateful. If not for this house or its owner, Ed and himself would've been still wandering in the blizzard. Had that been their fate, Ed would've eventually gotten so cold that Al would be left alone, his brother dead from hypothermia. For Al, there could be no worse path than his brother's premature death.

However, Ed was still clinging onto his suspicions. He felt the uneasiness like a snake squirming in his stomach. There was something off, definitely different, about this situation. "_This storm wasn't the issue, its the rest of it," _Ed thought. "_There's something weird about this place, Eve especially. Maybe she's some kind of foreigner... If that's the case, trusting her may be our worst mistake."_

"Al, we shouldn't trust her," Ed replied, trying to keep it as quiet as possible so their hostess wouldn't hear them. Al stared at him momentarily, as if surprised by Ed's opinion. Ed sighed and would've explained if not for Eve returning, carefully holding a mug in her light skinned hands.

She silently approached the elder brother, holding out the mug to him, "Here. This should make you warm. If you want anything else, you ask, da?"

Ed accepted the mug, despite his paranoia, and thanked as he took a long, slow drink of the warm drink. He discovered instantly that it was hot chocolate. Though it mildly surprised him, the idea behind it was not exactly shocking, seeing that she found to be just a kid that got lost. However, it was warm and would certainly be able to return the lost heat he had a little quicker.

"I am curious, what was blue light I saw?" she asked slowly, as if finding it awkward for her to speak about. This struck the brothers are rather odd, since they had encountered countless people that always could guess what it was. This was the one who didn't know.

"Alchemy," Al stated simply. There was a small pause before Al continued, "You have heard about it right?"

Eve seemed in a daze, her eyes widened and almost looking like she would faint right then and there. However, it lasted or a few moments before nodding, "Da, only rumours." It was then that she grew solemn again. "It dangerous practice after all. You two be careful with alchemy, it would be dangerous if wrong person saw you using it."

"What do you mean by that?" Ed questioned, after swallowing another mouthful of hot chocolate. Ed was beginning to get even more suspicious. Sure, Ed knew that Alchemy could be dangerous, he had dealt with it several times in the past. However, it seemed certainly weird that she had only heard rumours about it.

"There is serious punishment for it. Alchemy has been banned in Drachma for decades now," Eve answered simply, as if it were common knowledge.

* * *

AN: Hope you enjoyed this first chapter. Since it is my story for the 2014 Fma Big Bang, it is already completed. However, since I don't want it to overflow with all 9 Chapters (along with the epilogue), so it will be posted weekly on this site. So far, it has taken the most time (6 months) and is my largest piece of writing yet. I must say I'm pretty proud! (please also check out the artist for this, they did amazingly!: pinkavy .tumblr post /81927871397 /this-are-my-submissions-to-fmabigbang-2014 with no spaces of course). Please review if you like this as well.


	2. Chapter 2

There was a moment of silence as the last words hung in the air. _"Alchemy, banned in an entire country?"_ Ed thought. In his opinion, Alchemy was the best thing going for the human race. Not to mention he was sure that many other countries studied and used it within their societies, yet this seemed to out of place.

"Why would they do that?" Ed questioned, questions in his mind beginning to crave answers.

Eve looked at them, shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know... Some people wonder, not that many care anymore about it though. It long gone, most people say at least."

"What about the others?" Al piped up, just as curious as

"They suspect there are some Drachmen Alchemists in the country. We have no clue if they wrong or not, nobody would admit they were Alchemists since punishment is never pleasant."

"You keep bringing that up... What exactly is it?"

"Last person I know to have been called 'Alchemist', Iosif Bravinsky, got first degree charge of use of Alchemy. He got the usual two weeks in Solitary Confinement. When he came back, he seemed fine, except he always groaning about certain aches and pains every time I saw him. Many doubt first sentence is as harmless as they say, but it happened to him nevertheless. It was light sentence overall though," Eve answered, shaking her head at the memory before her expression was shadowed by grim. "I have heard of much worse than that. I only say this for your sakes; don't use Alchemy, otherwise you'll be digging your own graves soon enough."

Only the constant crackling of the fire was heard for a few minutes. Even if it was vague, Eve was obviously hinting that if they didn't heed her warning, they may be handed an unpleasant fate.

"Enough about this for now though, do you want something to eat?" she replied, breathing a sigh beforehand.

"Yeah, that'd be good," Ed replied, then an afterthought occurred, "If it isn't too much trouble."

Eve's figure shook with laughter, as if finding his last comment humorous. Once she composed herself, she replied, "No trouble at all. I make as much as you want. It part of Drachmen culture. Do you want anything in particular?"

"Nah, I should be fine with anything you have here," Ed answered.

It was after that confirmation that Eve slipped back into the hallway again, leaving the brothers alone.

"_She'll be cooking for a while if Ed wants as much food as possible,_" Al thought, knowing the surprising amount of food Ed could consume. However, that didn't shove out the possibility of what could happen in the future to the two illegal foreigners. Despite the odd feeling, Al tried his best to seem relaxed during the evening.

Ed gazed up at the ceiling of the bedroom the brother's occupied, listening to the howling winds that surrounded the room as if they were outside again. After having Dinner with Eva, quite satisfied with it, Ed's body demanded that he sleep as soon as possible. However, even though an hour or two must've passed by, he wasn't able to sleep like he thought he had. It wasn't the wind throwing snow and ice into the single window nor its high pitched wails that bothered the Alchemist. What seemed to plague his mind was simply curiosity.

The Elric's had promised one another that they would look over every single what-if in order to get back to normal. A whole new type of alchemy could be exactly what they needed to figure out how, however it seemed this particular style was going to be the most difficult to dig up. _"__Although,"_ he thought. _"__I__t might mean there's something they want to hide, something they don't want an outsider to discover; __o__r their own countrymen for that matter. That could __give us__ the chance to get our bodies back."_

"Hey, Al?" Ed called out just loud enough for his brother to hear him.

"Yeah?" Al replied from the other bed across the room, looking over at his smaller brother.

"I think we should take her little invite and stay in Drachma for a bit longer," Ed replied, shifting his position from his back to his side under the two warm blankets on top of him.

Al instantly whipped his body into a sitting position, red soul-fire eyes staring at Edward. "But Ed, we're on a mission, we shouldn't even be in Drachma."

"Well, we can play hookie for a little while. My reports are always a little late anyways." Ed replied as he sat up and shrugged, "Besides, we were lucky to get into this country in the first place, not to mention hearing about this 'banned alchemy' that the government is hiding. We'll check this lead first then get to the mission."

"I don't know, Brother... There hast to be some reason they outlawed it. The hardest part is probably going to be the beginning more than anything. I don't think anyone's going to easily tell us anything about the methods, with it being illegal," Al replied, sounding as rational as he had always been. He was always the one more likely to think of the consequences before actually doing anything than Edward was.

"Not to mention we can't use alchemy in public without drawing tons of attention to us," Ed added sourly. The brothers relied on alchemy to a good degree, especially Ed due to this job, it was almost considered to be a habit to use alchemy. Due to all of this, the idea that they'd had to keep their identity as alchemists really bothered him for that reason alone.

"We're just going to have to be careful then if we want to find out more about this alchemy, that's all," the younger Elric replied as if it seemed absolutely simple.

"Guess we're gonna see what Drachma's got for us to dig up," Ed replied, his mind drifting to what exactly it could lead to. A whole new country to learn about, shrouded with secrets with a people who probably hated Amestrians with a passion. He gave a sigh after pondering a moment. "_This isn't going to be easy,_" he decided in his mind, but acted relaxed as if there was nothing to worry about.

When Edward opened his eyes, he was instantly greeted by the brightness in the room that stung at his eyes. He instantly closed his eyes to shield out the brightness he was not ready for. He opened them a second time in order to allow his golden eyes to adjust, however they still had a dull irritation that didn't seem to go away.

He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes then pushed himself into a sitting position. Instantly, the cool air snaked over any exposed skin when the thick blankets fell onto his lap. Though he expected it to be much colder, he still preferred the warmth the blankets offered. Pushing the desirable thoughts of lying under the covers for a few more minutes out of his mind, Ed kicked off the blankets before swinging his legs over the side and slipping off the bed altogether. He shivered at the sudden sensation from his flesh foot when it make contact with the cold floorboards, but brushed it off a moment after.

With it being morning, Ed instantly saw that the room of shadows he had fallen asleep transformed into a pleasant bedroom. It seemed almost unfamiliar to the boy, now able to see every detail over the room clearly; but also some furniture and objects that kept some sort of shape in the night kept a level of familiarity.

Ed wondered for a moment where his brother had gone off to, but quickly deducted Al was downstairs. Once Ed had gotten dressed and washed up, he left the temporary bedroom and made his way downstairs. As hem made his way down, Ed heard Eva and Al talking, their voices bouncing off the walls.

"You're going hunting? I thought you went out yesterday," Al asked, his voice echoing throughout the halls. Without the strong winter winds, the place seemed more quiet than before.

"The hunt last night was not very good," Eva answered. "I going out again today. I probably going to sell half of my game, it good money. Everyone in town is very hard workings, not time to hunt if they wanted to. Too tired, they say."

It was at this point that Ed walked into the room, temporarily stopping the conversation. There seemed to be nothing wrong with the surroundings, just Eve and Al in a typical kitchen. The two people talked as they went along with the morning. Evaline was cooking at the stove while Al set the table, which had a decent sized stack of pancakes on a plate in the centre. The room was decent size, but did act as both a kitchen and a dining room.

He piped up, "Morning."

"Good morning, Edward," Evaline replied with a small smile before continuing her work of cooking. "You sleep well?"

"Yes I did," Ed replied before an afterthought occurred. "By the way, thank you for letting us stay." Ed was quite sure now that he could allow some trust to be given to her, since Eva hadn't even attempted something malicious. If not for her job and her rifle, Ed would've deemed her as harmless by now. However, you could never tell if that was just an act or not.

"It's fine," she replied. "You can help yourself to the pancakes on the table." With that she motioned with spatula in hand to the table before focusing again.

Ed didn't waste long in sitting at the table and taking enough pancakes to satisfy him.

"Is that what you do for work, just hunting?" Ed asked as he reached for the syrup on the table, curious on why she would hunt other than it being her job. It is was, it seemed strange. There must've been some towns in Drachma with farming as a major resource, making hunters have low income.

There was a paused before she nodded. "Da, mostly. It better than some of the jobs out there, I'd rather hunt. I get fresh meat and I can sell it to the people of Yegor as well."

As the elder brother ate, Eva continued to recall the town,

"It closest one from here. Yegor is a small mining town not too far from the mountains. Lots of work there. Many of the men work in mines. The mines are quite interesting, quite complex. You mainly see women and children in the village most of the day, depending on the hour. Other than that, it very quiet."

"Well, it looks like that's our next stop then," Ed spoke between mouth fulls of food. Part of Ed wondered if they would find anything at all there. If it was anything like Resembool, there wouldn't be much to find. Either way, they would probably head through the town anyway so it really didn't matter all that much.

"Let me get you something before you go," Eva spoke, finishing up the rest of the food she was cooking, placing it onto the plate, puting it onto the table, and exited the kitchen altogether.

The woman took quite a long time to say the least, Ed finished eating and the two brothers walked back into the entry way to prepare for the cold outside. As Ed slid on his jacket, Eva appeared again, holding something in her hand.

She met up with them, she held out a pair of goggles similar to her own. "You take these, da? It will help if you outside for too long," the dark haired woman told him. "They prevent snow blindness."

"Well... thanks." Edward replied, taking the goggles and placing them around his neck.

"We'll be back soon," Al added. The woman only stared blankly for a moment before nodding.

The moment Ed opened the door, a rush of cold air attacked his senses. Despite the cold atmosphere wrapping around the alchemist, the sky was clear, with no clouds to block out the endless blue above them. "This place has got to be one big chunk of ice if its this cold on a clear day!" the alchemist grumbled, inwardly declaring this freezing temperature to be one of the worst things about Drachma.

"We better get a move on in case the weather changes, Brother," Al replied with a light chuckle at his brother's last comment as he closed the door. The two then headed off to the Northeast, towards town.

During their long walk, the brothers noticed how drastic the difference was between the evening before and that bright morning. The world outside, once a dark and blurry place, now had surprising clarity. The rolling hills of white looked pure, clear to see as if they had always existed that way. Mountains seemed to be scattered throughout the landscape, some in the distance and some nearby. Life crept into view occasionally, especially the white fluffy animals and the few odd plants that somehow survived the cold and last night's blizzard.

"You know, when most people think of Drachma, most people think of it looking like this," Ed commented as the two of them created their own path through the snow.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Since North Amestris is usually covered in snow, it's almost impossible to think anything otherwise," Al replied.

"I find it a little too quiet though. I was picturing more military out here or something; training facilities or something, being the 'M_ighty _Country of the North' and all," Ed added as he looked around, as if to try to spot some sort of facility that could be suspected to house some part of the Drachmen Military. On a clear day like today, it was easy to see there was no buildings, except for the lone one they had come from.

"You can't expect everything we've heard about Drachma to be true," Al replied, enjoying that there wasn't several soldiers who would shoot rather than talk stalking the area and manacling training facilities.

"Yeah, maybe," Edward replied, not exactly sold just yet on this country that seemed so peaceful. It was almost too good to be true to the rumours of Drachma. _"Every lie has at least a little bit of truth in it,_" Edward reasoned in his thoughts.

When the brothers finally arrived at the town, they found it oddly quiet and rather regular, the snow on the ground stomped down and thinned, allowing walking to be much less of a struggle, as well as the snow layering any other surface that had not be tended to. If they had not known they had crossed the border, they would've mistaken it for a Northern Amestrian Town rather than Southern Drachmen. Except for subtle touches, such as the sturdy beams supporting the parts of the rafters that extended beyond the supporting walls, which acted as cover for those who wanted some shelter from the weather.

"Doesn't look like we'll have much to do here in a place like this," Ed concluded, surveying the lack of people outside at the time.

Al could see his brother was quite right about that, at least for the time being. The people were few mainly children playing in the snow and woman wither doing their various jobs or looking over the kids from further away, but very few men present in the town. "_Ev__e__ did say most of the people here are miners..."_ Al concluded in his mind before an idea appeared.

"Eva was talking about how many people work in the mine, maybe we can find someone who knows something and speaks Amestrian," Al suggested.

"That's probably our best bet," Ed concluded, "So I guess it's back to the mountains, huh."

"Wait! Shouldn't we ask for directions!?"

"As long as the weather doesn't change, we'll be fine. Besides, it's not like we can really ask for directions," Ed, "Best chance is going to the mountains."

Without another word, Ed looked out to the closest mountain, standing strong and large beside the town. Scanning the surroundings, Ed ran down the pathway he assumed lead to the mountains. "Come on, Al!" Ed shouted, glancing over his shoulder.

Al gave a sigh before he ran off after his brother. It was then that the Brothers headed off.

After an hour or two wandering around, the two located it rather easily. However, for a moment they weren't sure it actually was the mine at all. The mineshaft seemed anything but typical, despite the regular appearance of the town. Instead of the simple dirt tunnel leading into the side of the mountain, there was a room made of bricks inside, reinforcing the area. Pipes extended around the room; attaching to other pipes or some kind of machinery. These pipes showed their age through colour and smoke that leaked out in places that probably shouldn't, which could make one question how long ago the place was updated. The several pipes, gears, and valves seemed to be all connected into one intricate machine; save for the single large pulley and its small control board that only consisted of two long handles that wasn't connected to the rest of it.

However, workers moved constantly around the room, some operating some parts of it while some worked on repairing pipes and adjusting several gears and valves to ensure no further damaging the contraption. Also a small room was lifted by it, four burly men with a mine cart full of stone rolling it in and down the hall as fast as they could; the room disappearing under the floorboards moments after.

"Sure is busy in here," Al commented, observing the workers.

"Not to mention loud!" Ed managed to shout over the hissing of leaking pipes and the low, loud, and steady hum from moving gears, as well as the shouting. "It's definitely not like back home! If this really is a mine, I wonder where the rest of the shaft is."

"It does look like everything's blocked off in here," Al confirmed, using his height to his advantage. With the room being decently lit, there was no signs of any other main openings other than the way in the Ed and Al had gone through.

"Well, we're not here to inspect the place or anything! We just need something to start with. Anything to do with Alchemy," Ed replied, sure that the noise would at least distort the word "Alchemy" if said loud enough for only Al to hear. "Let's see if we can find anyone here on break, maybe we can find something out."

"Okay," Al replied.

The two boys did their best to keep out of the way of the Drachmen Miner's work, trying to spot anyone seeming casual or relaxed. However, it seemed that would be unlikely the longer they stayed in the large, long room, due to the fact that the men pushed passed them several times as if they weren't even there. It was like a busy train station, nobody noticed each other.

In fact, people started moving quicker as time when by. More things seemed to be cracking under the pressure of its job faster than when the Elrics had entered. Workers rushed around to fix these certain problems, shouting out to one another in Drachmen as they adjusted several parts of the machine. Even if the boys didn't speak their language, the tension and anxiety coming from them began tainting the atmosphere.

"Something's wrong, Brother," Al stated, slowly becoming nervous as the adults seemed so panicked now. Momentarily, the brother's heard a high pitched hissing sound as well as trembling pipes, creating a high pitched sound as metal went against metal.

The two of them whirled around and stepped back. Three of the six pipes quivered, but not as bad as the three that seemed to be shaking madly. The three pipes were hissing out steam from where they attached, hissing like a tea kettle.

"Whoa!" Ed yelped, watching as the pipes came to life so quickly,

Two works pushed by the brothers to get to the problem, adjusting the valved and tightening the pipelines. It was during the same time that Ed caught a smaller person almost racing down one of the pathways not covered in pipes and brick. As he got closer, Ed realized it was just a kid, not much older than Al or himself.

Apparently, the kid acknowledged him and changed his route quickly enough to grab his arm and stop from in front of the Amestrian. The first thing Ed realized about the child was one of his cheeks were a dull red colour, the spot puckering that side a bit. He eyed Edward for a moment before speaking, the foreign words of Drachmen being spat out as quickly as he could, making it seem like less of a language and just jibberish.

The boy darted toward, tugging Edward as well. Even though it sounded urgent, Ed had no clue what he had said. He pulled back as hard as he could, but it was Al, who quickly grabbed onto Ed, that kept the boy from dragging Ed off somewhere.

The boy whirled around with alarm, green eyes staring up at Al with confusion. He seemed as nervous as every other Drachmen in there, shifting his weight from one leg to the other.

"Wait a sec," Ed nearly shouted, trying to make his voice heard over all the commotion, "I don't speak your language. What's going on?"

The boy as silent for a moment, as if trying to guess Edward's own language. It took a moment for the boy to reply, slowly in Amestrian as if he hadn't spoken it in a while, "You speak Amestrian?"

"We do. Please tell us what's going on?" Al replied, his ringing voice in his hollow shell still able to be heard over all the commotion surrounding them.

The boy licked his lips and glanced over towards the other end of the room, seeming more nervous by the minute. He seemed to have not used the language in a long time, since he seemed to be having trouble translated the words in his head to Amestrian. "Generator needs to be fixed!...Everything overheating!... It explode if...if... not fixed very very soon! Come!" The boy spoke quickly, trying to get the best choice of words he could collect and spit them out as fast as possible.

* * *

An: Got it up on time! :3 I hope you all like this and thanks for all that review. This was one of my biggest works, especially since I had to study a lot about Russia in 1810's so it was fairly accurate. Hope you enjoyed!


	3. Chapter 3

Ed's eyes widened while Al gasped at the idea. They now fully realized the extent of the situation at hand in the mining room. He may have not been a mechanic genius, but he knew the basics of how a stream tank or generator worked and the magnitude it could have if something were to go wrong with it.

Before Ed or Al could reply, the boy darted off. It was obvious he felt explaining what was happening was not good enough in this situation. The boy looked back once before turning behind machinery. Seeing how many people were here and the degree of panic, Ed felt his own muscles stiffen up. Part of him wanted to get out before something that drastic happened, but another side of him couldn't allow for so many innocent lives to die; whether they were usually considered to be the enemy or not.

"Come on Al!" Ed shouted before racing after the boy, his mind made up. The echoing clank from Al following closely behind Ed as they raced to catch up, following the same path as the kid. The mining entrance seemed to more than just rectangular, sections looked like they split up by the natural cave walls that were covered with machinery. Nevertheless, Al caught the sight of the a smaller figure than most of the adults moving closer to the back of the room.

"He went that way!" Al shouted before the brothers continued their chase.

The Elrics bolted down the pathway before finding the boy again after a steep turn. This time he struggling to push up a large lever, gripping the rusty metal bar with both hands and trying desperately to make it move. Al quickly stepped in, gripping a part he wasn't holding and almost effortlessly pushed it all the way up. The boy let go immediately at the sound of gears moving and another contraption in the area roared to live.

"Thanks," the boy mumbled, as if the thought barely crossed his mind at all.

A pulley system that had previously gone unnoticed began to move, two large boards that had kept the hole where the several hooks and buckets descended into pushed open. Ed, whose curiosity got the better of him, looked down through the square hole. It seemed like an abyss down there, dark and probably deep; no doubt a part of mining caves.

The boy tapped Ed on the shoulder, motioning him to move aside. He pointed at Ed with his free hand, since other other was gripping the handle of a lit lantern that had been placed in the corner. "Fastest way down. You come?"

The boy didn't wait for Ed to answer, he just reached out to grab a hook, almost missing it, before allowing himself to step off the stable ground. The ropes gave a large jerk with the new weight, it didn't seem to faze the boy much; it seemed like he had done this several times before. Ed and Al watched as the boy hung there for a couple minutes, the light allowing them to see the boy descending downwards before swinging and leaping off onto a stone platform.

Ed heard the boy's voice echo in the pit after a moment, "Come on! It easy! Even short people can do!"

"Who are you calling small!?" Ed whirled around and shouted at the boy down below.

If anything, that was enough to provoke Ed. Ed turned back to his brother, "I'm not sure how much this'll hold. Judging by the cord I'd guess it wouldn't be enough for you. I'll be right back, okay?"

After seeing his brother nod, Ed focused on getting down there. Reaching out like the kid, Ed realized his arm was just not long enough to reach without the chance he may lose his balance. Steeling his nerves, Ed spotted one in particular and allowed himself to lean forward enough to reach it. His feet slipped off the floor and for a split second, nothing was keeping him from falling; descending into the dark with no safety line.

The moment he felt something against his fingers, he reached out further and his left hand caught hold of metal. The whole contraption jerked fiercely, trying to shake Edward off. Ed yelped in surprise as the whole thing shook him. The blond, now faced with the suddenly very real possibility of falling to his death in a foreign country, tightened his grip to the point it was a vice grip.

"Ed!" Al called, worry and fear laced in his voice. With the darkness cloaking the world below, it was hard for the suit of armour to see if his brother was indeed okay or not. The way down wasn't even close to safe. Al didn't want to think about what would happen if this took a turn for the worse.

Ed took a deep breath to compose himself before replying, "I'm okay!" He heard the faint sound of Al sighing, relief flowing through both of the brothers. Ed's body hummed with tension as he watched the lantern's light and the boy become closer.

"You do good," the boy said with a smile, almost a smirk, as he watched Ed come into the light of the lantern. Ed started to swing just like the boy had on his try before ensuring himself he'd make it. Once on solid ground, Ed realized his body was quivering ever so slightly, a small adrenaline rushing from the experience.

The boy allowed a second for Ed to compose himself before he headed into the cave in the wall at the fastest pace he could without jostling the lantern too much. The race down the cave tunnels seemed like a walk in the park than hanging from a pulley system. The tunnel was narrow, but other than that it was no different than the many mines in Amestris. Overtime the narrow tunnel expanded, the floor beginning to become more smooth the as the boys moved onward.

Eventually, Ed caught the sound of rushing water becoming more evident as they went down. The tunnel eventually branched off to a large cavern. Rushing water in a large natural trench was the very thing that split the cavern in two. The green eyed boy moved at a brisk pace towards a section that was out of the lantern's orb of light. Keeping close behind, the light revealed a bridge stemming from both sides, constructed completely of metal. Although covered in rust, it was obvious by how the green eyed child raced down the metal surface that it was completely stable.

Ed easily caught up and stayed close behind the other male. The running took longer than the tunnel to get to the river, but after a little while Ed spotted something bright up ahead. At first it was no different than a start in the sky, bright but small. The two boys headed that way, the light growing larger as they did. After a short while, it became an opening with torches inside, putting the lantern's flame to utter shame.

Inside was a lit dead end, the river remaining on the right side and disappearing through some large hole in the wall. The all too familiar sounds of humming and pulsing of mechanics echoed in the room, coming from a single large machine attached to the wall.

The green eyed boy got to work immediately after he set the lantern down. Seeing how its many pumps, gears, and a single large mill that turned by the rush of water were moving faster than expected, it seemed to be working more than it should have been, enough that Ed was sure it was going to explode if not tended to soon enough.

The Drachmen child began adjusting levers and valves for a moment before looking over his shoulder and calling to Ed, "Come here! You help!"

Ed, even though he knew less about generators, listened and jogged over. Observing the many objects he could adjust or move, Ed was instantly at a loss for what to do.

"Any suggestions what I should start on?" He asked before hearing the groan of metal as a high pitched sound echoed throughout the room.

"Third valve, right of where you are standing! Turn right until I say" the boy answered as he clambered up the pipes to reach the large valve that was way above his head. He instantly observed to that of his right. Just like the boy had said, there were three valves placed attached there. Grasping the third one, Ed gave it one good tug to the right before it squeaked in protest, but soon became easier to move.

"Good!" the boy shouted, crawling down before racing other to the left side, taking hold of one of four levers connected to a table-like surface right next to a large circular contain of sorts. "Go left and find two valves, twist closest one right twice and other one left third times," the boy instructed.

It was obvious to Ed this wasn't the first time this had happened, thus he listened to the instructions. However, when he reached out for the further one, steam erupted out of the coupling. Drawing his hand back quickly, Ed carefully reached around the hot steam. He cursed under his breath as his flesh forearm felt the heat of the spitting steam, but once the valve was twisted the steam became less of a threat until it showed almost no signs it had ever been there. "Got it!" he replied once the task was completed.

"Go further left and pull lever on wall," was the next thing that Ed was supposed to do.

The lever Ed found was rather rusty, to the point Ed was gripping it with both hands and trying his absolute best to tug it downwards from its original spot. The metal groaned in defiance but refused to move despite his best efforts. Suddenly it began to move, much too slow for Ed's opinion. The contraption, that must've been the generator, was screeching and working faster, sounding almost like a ticking bomb about to explode.

Suddenly, the lever completely gave way, moving quickly and easily. Ed nearly lost his balance due to the sudden movement. Suddenly he realized there a steady sound of something turning much more slowly, the anxiety-inducing sounds dying away. Ed let go of the lever and grumbled, "Glad that's over."

He then turned to the boy wiping what must've been sweat off of his pale face, the bangs of his curly brown hair glimmering with sweat. It was probably because the boy had probably done most of the work in such a short time, allowing Ed to do the more simple stuff. "Me too," he replied. "Happen too many times."

Ed approached the river, examining the large metal turning in the water. "That really must suck. Although, even if it's a pain in the ass, it's pretty impressive." With anxiety gone, Ed could see the several parts he had missed. The large mill was creating energy, using the river's power, for the large circular container which had to be some sort of boiler. As well as the many valves adjusting how much energy would pass through it, he could now see the many pipes disappeared into the ground wall to elsewhere. "Does this thing create power for the room above?"

The boy nodded, "Yea, but other parts too. There is old generator elsewhere, but it used for only emergency."

The boy joined Ed at the riverside, getting as close as possible to the river's edge before kneeling at the edge. The green eyed boy discarded his thick gloves, revealing the red splotches littering his hands. They were in different degrees of healing, some bright red and swelling like they had been inflicted moments ago while others seemed to be fading away. There were less cuts and even less bruises, but the condition of the boy's hands were causing them to tremble. It was a small testimony that there was a good amount of harsh work there.

As the boy dipped his hands into the river's cold water, trying to cool them off. Ed pretended he found them uninteresting and regular. His gaze went back to the large water mill conducting energy for the whole contraption.

"Wow, seems like something a kid shouldn't know how to operate," Ed remarked, as if hinting that this wasn't the best place for a kid. He couldn't help but be a bit surprised that a child his age was doing work like this. He had seen the boys with miners as fathers, but never such a young boy working in a mine. A mine was no place for a child after all. However, Ed was not one to talk since the military wasn't fit for a child either. It seemed that both boys had tough lives, however Ed couldn't help but wonder what would make a boy resort to working in a dangerous place.

"Yes, but kids quicker than adults, we got here no time. Father taught me how to work it. I do more than operate generator though; more work, more money," the boy replied with a grin, taking one last look at it before heading over to the lantern to retrieve it. "Thank you for helping me. I am Alexei. You?"

"Edward," Ed answered.

"Alright, Eduard, let's get moving," Alexei spoke before the two headed out into the darkness again.

Looking over his shoulder, Ed couldn't help but wonder what were to happen if he had messed up, making an error with dire consequences. With a slight essence of nervousness that was hidden by boredom, Ed asked, "You sure we should leave it alone?"

"It should be fine," Alexei replied. "I done it many times and everything goes good."

It was during their walk back to the bridge that Ed noticed shapes that were artificial creeping into view. However, they remained out of sight, like ghosts of the past, teasing those who didn't not of them to approach. It took a moment to even resister whether they were a trick of the mind or reality. They looked awfully similar to buildings, strangely enough.

"Can you shine that light over there? I see something," Ed spoke.

Alexei obeyed easily, lifting the light in order for Ed to catch a glimpse of what was there. In the wall was several buildings as well as a huge hole that lead straight down towards an underground village. Ed was shocked at seeing it so close yet the light having barely scratched the surface of the buildings, the small flame only allowing a glimpse of the structures above, nevertheless the many buildings below in the cavern. There were some rusted metal snaking up to the buildings on the walls, most supporting but some possible stairs in order to make it back up there.

"Buildings up there are for watching, village down there is for if enemy attacks. Since we are near border, that village would be safe for us if the village above is attacked. The other generator is down there somewhere. Luckily, I never had to go down there." Alexei's lips tugged downwards in a frown after explaining, "It can't protect us from everything, sadly. It good it's here though, will save most people from most bad things."

For a moment, Ed saw sorrow appear in Alexei's eyes, as if he was recalling a horrible memory from his past. Ed, knowing much about tragedies and unfortunate events that occurred in the life of people, didn't ask what he meant by this last statement. He distracted himself with the underground village.

"Looks like it took a while," Ed commented.

"It been here as long as I can remember. Yegor has always been a mining town, nobody remember what it was before that," the brunette replied. "People have many shafts here, some hidden some not. Lots of secrets here, that much for sure. My Father told me that he and Iosif would explore the parts of the mines that aren't being used anymore all the time, that why I know about the village down here. Those ones dried up, nothing of use in them anymore. My father says not to go though, he say too dangerous."

As Ed looked over the structures and details, something especially caught his eye. The faded signs of transmutation still revealing enough signs that Alchemists were here. There was no doubt in his mind Alchemists helped create this. It was a small hint, but still enough for Ed to be curious on what sort of things the mineshaft hid from the world above. It took a moment before he realized the Alexei's words and put two and two together.

"Wait, do you mean Iosif Bravinsky!?" Edward exclaimed, his voice echoing for a moment.

"Of course, he stubborn and grumpy all the time! He lived in Village for little while, but he left when I was pretty little," Alexei huffed before continuing to walk again, leaving the village behind. "But he did hard work in mines like these."

Following the boy and moving back into the small patch of light. Ed asked, "Do you think I could take to your father sometime? I've got to talk to him about when it comes to Iosif Bravinsky."

"Sure, but why'd ever you want to talk about Iosig? He hated children, except my father." Alexei looked back with a smirk on his face, as if daring him to really say anything all that nice; or do something risky. This look lasted a second before Alexei went back to looking ahead.

It was that simple gesture and the dark atmosphere that put Ed on guard, if the brown haired boy wanted to try something, he knew much more about this place than Ed; although Alchemy would level the playing field to an even match. "_Guess I'll take my chances. I've beaten up guys bigger than him anyway. Plus, he's the only lead I've got,"_ Ed reasoned, noting the lean figure on the other male momentarily.

"Well...There's something I've got to know. If he knew anything, It would really help me out," Ed explained vaguely, wondering if that would be enough.

After minutes of walking, Alexei only shrugged before replying, "I'll try, since you help me. Right now, Father is injured, cave collapsed. He is at home, but I'll see if he want visitors. That's why I'm working here, Boss doesn't care who's working as long as it's a worker. My family needs money."

Edward could understand that, it was the only real way to get a steady income. However, it seemed like a rundown place to work. Parts seemed in need of repairing or improving; the pulley system seemed to appear in Ed's mind as well as the majority of the metal being rusted than clean. Seeing that the generator was unstable sometimes, Ed didn't feel like he needed to see how the actual mining operated.

"Seems like it's pretty dangerous."

"You obviously not from here," Alexei sighed under his breath, the echoing caverns the only reason Ed was able to catch it. Alexei did speak up, this time not looking over his shoulder but walking head on, "Even if it is, some jobs much worse than this one."

For the rest of the time, Edward and Alexei walked in silence for the remainder of the march back, allowing Ed to look over anything interesting or suspicious.

Soon Ed and Alexei made there way back to the pit they were in before, signalled by the lone hole filtering some light into the surface below, not much though.

The sound of metal smoothly shifting made Ed turn around, observing as Alexei pulled another lever nearby the cave entrance. The reaction seemed almost instant, the pulley system stopping momentarily before rotating the other way.

"You want to go first?" Alexei asked, motioning to the simple machine casually.

"Sure," Ed replied, taking not time to walk carefully to the stone platform's edge. Once Ed grabbed onto a large enough hook, he allowed it to pull him up. "_At least I didn't get jerked around this time,"_ Ed thought, almost expecting it for a moment.

Ed was left to hold on, ascending to the large hole above. Once Ed looking down to make sure Alexei wasn't planning anything, but he found him by the lantern as he had been before, waiting patiently.

The first thing he saw when he got up to the top was his younger brother waiting by the opening.

"Brother, are you okay?" Al asked with a hint of concern. Now that Ed thought about it, it might've been an hour since they went down into that particular mining section.

Ed simply swung once then released his hold on the hook. He landed quite simply, with no falter afterwards, onto the stone ground. It was then that he replied to his brother, "I'm fine, but I'm _never_ doing that again."

* * *

Sorry for the delay, homework is really been attacking me lately. However, it is only one day late. I hope you're enjoying this and I'd love to hear from you. ^^


	4. Chapter 4

Alexei spent as little time as possible talking to a certain man after Ed and himself got out of the shaft, most likely the boss of the place. It didn't take long before Alexei got stopped by some boys around his own age. Though they seemed a little worn out, most dusted in soot and some with wounds to mark their time there, the boys still joked around for a couple minutes, most likely taking a break. Ed and Al watching from the wall, it was strange yet interesting that there was kids working in a dangerous place like this but that was the only thing that caught Ed's attention. He couldn't understand Drachma, so it was useless to listen in. The loud voice of a man made the boys jump and scramble back to work, leaving Alexei to head back to the brothers. Once Alexei was back, the three of them walked out of the mines.

The world seemed suddenly seemed much brighter than it had after the short time in the mines, stinging Ed's eyes. Ed almost was tempted to block out the sunlight's burning rays by putting on the pair of goggles he had gotten earlier, but stopped himself, settling for letting his eyes adjust. "Dammit," Ed hissed, waiting for his eyes to adjust back to the outdoors again.

Alexei seemed a little more used to the feeling, only holding his forearm just above his eyes to block out some of the bright light. He replied."Yes, it big pain. That for sure."

Once their eyes adjusted to the bright world, the three of them made their way down the large hill to the town below.

Returning to the town, Ed and Al followed the green-eyed boy, who walked casually ahead of them. The fairly quiet streets remained the same, but there was little changes as they continued to go deeper into the mountain village. There was a decent amount of children wandering the streets, sometimes accompanied by large, thick-furred dogs. _"So Drachmen have wolves for pets; great,"_ Ed mused, watching one cross their path at a run to catch up with a little boy. There was an instinct to go after them to make sure they were alright, but the place seemed rather controlled for anything out of hand.

"Those Drachmen Huskies, they good in snow and very strong," Alexei had told him a little earlier on. Even so, Ed was sure they were a particularly close to their ancestors. It reminded him a little too much of his previous, not to mention recent, encounter with wolves.

There was also the increasing amount of women staring suspiciously at them the more they travelled into the village. However, neither brother was surprised why. Between Al looking like a man in armour and Ed's unique attire, they were not too hard to spot in Amestris, let along in Drachma. Another factor was probably Ed's blond hair and gold eyes, being the very opposite to the traditional dark features and pale skin of natives.

"So is staring normal here?" Ed asked.

Alexei looked around, not knowing about the several pairs of eyes staring at them. He relaxed instantly as if there was not a problem and shrugged. "Can be," he stated. "Soldiers come from time to time. They defend the border and check nearby towns. Lots of troops are near Creta, but more will come soon to protect the Amestrian-Drachmen border."

What broke Ed's attention of the scene around them was the sound of something large coming towards them, a horse-drawn sleigh to be exact. Al noticed Alexei flinch when it got within a good distance, as if nervous or surprised, stopping for a moment.

"You okay?" Al asked.

It took a moment for Alexei to gain is composure again, twitching once before looking back at Al, "Yeah, I'm fine." It was after the words came out of his mouth that he continued to lead the way, shaking slightly because of the temperature or something else.

As the horse-drawn sleigh came closer, the three boys moved to the side in order to get out of the driver's way. There was total silence from Alexei, who peered up at what the contents on top of the boards of the sled-like contraption only once before jogging past it. Usually simple things like contents only interested them whether it was missions or ingredients of the Philosopher's Stone. However, the single pale hand that stuck out from underneath the fabric when the carriage went over a bump and drooped over the side caught both of the Elrics to stop and stare in horror. The arm was scratched up with several large puncture words accompanying it, silently speaking the brutality of the cause of death.

"I-It was carrying..." Al squeaked once it passed by.

"Yeah... I know," Ed replied, his voice nearly tripping up. Edward had never truly seen the condition of a dead body from a mining occupation, nor had Alphonse, but they were sure they didn't want to see the rest of it. He quickly broke himself out of his trance, however, and tapped Al's gauntlet. "Come on, we better go."

"Right," Al replied before the Elric brothers continued on; the Drachmen boy waiting at the end of the snow-covered block. Once the two continued to move, Alexei disappeared into an alleyway with a small smirk on his face.

The moment the boy went out of sight, Al called out, "Wait!"

The boy peaked out for a moment and reassured the younger brother, "Don't worry, shortcut."

Unlike earlier, Alexei remained in sight for most of the walk, usually walking just ahead of the foreigners at the least. Most of the time, the Drachmen child used more of his 'short cuts' to save the time, going down several alleys almost as if he preferred them than the village roads. However, the town's streets looked become more like dark, narrow places; something that could easily cause crime activity to be possible; not to mention the alleyways.

Eventually, Alexei slowed and stopped in front one of the homes. It seemed smaller than those at the edge of town, and certainly not the size of Eve's home. However, it seemed quiet well kept and retained many of the features the other buildings had. "_It's probably part of the culture,"_ Al thought to himself.

The boy walked casually towards the building, "This is my home." The brown-haired boy opened the door, a slight creak to it as it left its frame. When the three boys entered the house, it was easy to see there wasn't that much furniture in the room, despite the fact it seemed to be a living room. It held the necessities as well as a few extra things, such as a few children's toys, a fireplace, and an extra couch, but nothing more. It similar to the dorm the Elric brothers had back in Central Headquarters.

"It's quite... spacious," Al remarked.

"Yeah, it is," Alexei replied with a small smile on his face, "It not much but it is home."

A small voice asked, no louder than a whisper. The voice came from a child just as equally small girl, surely no older than five, who seemed to want to keep herself hidden as much as possible in the small amount of shadows given; dark yet innocent eyes looking over all three of them.

"Привет, Sofia," Alexei greeted to the girl as he took off his coat, switching to his native tongue.

The little girl smiled sweetly before darting into the next room, the sound of her running gave off a small echo. Al assumed she was simply shy or looking for her parents.

"Who was that?" Ed asked.

"Sofia is my cousin, we were raised together, she does consider me brother, I do not mind though," Alexei replied. "Anyway, my father should be here. He has not gone anywhere else since his injury. Follow me."

The brothers did just that, trailing closely behind Alexei, into the hallway. Alexei seemed to know the place rather well despite the opinion that they might have recently moved there, he had probably lived in the house for his whole life. The Drachmen boy called out once or twice before getting a reply. His eyes widened for a moment before dashing down the hallway.

"Wait up!" Ed told the other boy to no avail. _"Does he have to keep doing this!?_" Ed though, having just about enough with chasing Alexei around. However, an ominous feeling crept up on the brothers that made them move, as if something was wrong in the house.

The brothers were lead into a room with four people occupying it. It seemed to be a small study, judging by the two large bookcases, one filled with published books and the other had a mix between official books and hand written ones.

The first person was undoubtedly Alexei who was trying to keep up with two conversations at once as he was being hugged by a lady. One was the little girl, Sofia, who clung to the lady's shirt as if to get her attention. The amount of noise seemed to cause chaos, especially since neither Elric knew the language.

It took a moment for Alexei to finish talking with the lady, who Ed guessed was his mother before focusing on the man sitting on the chair. As the Elrics watched from near the entrance, the two of them almost instantly noticed the man's leg and forearm were bandaged in white gauze, a crutch lying against the side of the man's chair, where he sat by the desk with scattered paper. Alexei finally began to speak Amestrian again after a moment, "These two are Eduard and Alfonse Elric, they are brothers. Can they talk with you?"

As a moment of silence engulfed the room. Ed did examined them, Alexei's parents couldn't have been more different than one another. Her blond hair and green eyes were bright like those in Amestris, which caught Ed by surprise, she didn't seem to have any physical features that resembled the typical Drachmen. However, Alexei's father seemed to have every single trait, including his dark brown hair.

Soon he found Alexei's father staring right back at him, as if he were suspicious of Ed. The man closed him eyes and breathed a sigh, "We talk here. I would appreciate it if you leave us alone to talk."

Alexei moved almost immediately, darting out of the small study. "Alright honey," Alexei's mother spoke before picking up the little girl and following her son out of the room. With them gone, they could get their first clue. Before either of them could ask a question, the father spoke first.

The low voice of Alexei's father seemed to rumble in his throat, his voice thick with the Drachmen accent, "Alexei told me you helped him in the mines today and that you want to speak with me. Either way, it not very rare Amestrians want to talk someone like me, so I assume it something specific."

"How did you...?" Al asked, sort of surprised he discovered their nationality so easily. Al had noticed the people of Yegor had all different colours, most likely meaning the country had immigrants at one point with the neighbouring countries. Maybe it was different in other places?

"It almost too easy to tell, boy. Mountain villages are close knit, I seen every kid who lives in village, so even if you did look like one of us, it wouldn't take long to be picked out as foreign. My wife and you are from same country, so it easier for me to see. Your accent give it away too."

"So your wife crossed the border legally?" Al asked. Even though they were technically illegal immigrants, Al felt they should at least know where they could go to go across again. He'd rather do that than get lost again in a storm like last time.

"Her sister and father came alongside her, but nobody crosses boarder legally now," the man spoke as if nothing were out of the ordinary with such a thing, despite it being a law.

Al nodded, seeing it make sense. "_It must be something common and it would explain the amount of Northern Boarder Police in Amestris." _Al reasoned in his mind.

Ed quickly quickly decided switched topics before anything got too off track, eager to get some information on the Drachmen Alchemy he had heard about. He wasn't about to waste his chance. "So I heard you were friends with Iosif," Ed spoke, trying to change the subject as easily as possible.

A smile, that appeared more as a smirk, cracked from the man's previous stone cold expression. "I was, Isoif taught me quite a few things, including how to operate generator and work in mine. We both did quite a bit of exploring in there too."

"Really? 'Cause I heard that he was a bit more than an average miner. There's a rumour about him having the title, 'The Last Drachmen Alchemist.' I'm curious to know if it's true," Ed added. Seeing that there was some fond memories of who Alexei called 'grumpy', there was a good chance that it would be easy to get some information.

The grin disappeared at the mention of Alchemy, reverting back to a stone cold expression. That signalled one meaning in particular to the Elrics; it wasn't going to be that easy. "A child like you shouldn't need to know anymore than rumours," the miner replied. Al noticed the man's voice had a mix of stress, yet still remained the cold tone that could probably match the temperature outside, and his coal black eyes had glimmers of anger and worry caught in them.

"We aren't just some Amestrian kids who got lost," Ed replied.

"Yeah, we're alchemists," Al piped up, backing up Edward.

The man scoffed and shook his head, "That's even more reason for me to tell you nothing about Isoif or alchemy. I assume you not even know the penalty for the practice," His voice seeming to challenge them. It was obvious he was not eager to share everything he knew without a bit of a struggle.

"I heard it was solitary confinement for two weeks," Ed replied back, wanting to prove the guy wrong.

"As well as the high possibly of being beaten," the dark haired man added. "There is a second and third degree for practising alchemy. The first would most definitely be the lightest. Do you know what those are?"

Ed shook his head in reply, alongside his brother.

The man breathed a sigh before speaking, "The second degree is more pain than imprisonment. They take the writing hand of the accused and simply chop it off at the wrist. No anaesthetic, just fire to seal up the wound."

Both boys were more than a little startled by that idea. Solitary confinement seemed reasonable for the supposed crime. However, the idea of slicing off a person's hand seemed like more of an extreme. For a moment Ed expected Alexei's father to smirk and tell him it were a joke, but the stern face of the man proved it was real. Ed instinctively cradled his flesh wrist in his automail hand as if by instinct as the idea took hold of his thoughts. He knew what it felt like to have an arm and a leg torn off, but the concept of being forced to experience that did cause Ed to feel the true danger they had overlooked.

Al stared down at Ed, eyeing his brother's left hand more than anything. His brother had lost so many things, some forced from him and others sacrificed to their goal. In Al's eyes, this alchemy certainly wasn't worth it if it were to cost Edward to loose a hand.

A small knot seemed to form in his throat at the idea of himself being accused for that. _"They could easily do that to me, but if that were to happen to Al... What would they do to him?"_ Ed didn't want to know what they would do. It surely would be just a bad, if not worse.

The Drachmen Miner waited for the idea to sink in for a couple minutes before continuing on as if the idea was not all that special, "Most obvious one is the third; execution. Some were actually public executions, but then there were some private ones. Now most people just disappear; most likely a private death sentence."

Ed's gold eyes met Al's soulfire ones as they instantly looked at each other once the Drachmen spoke. Each one were thinking the same thing. "_I can't let my brother die... not ever..."_ The idea of execution had always seemed far from the brothers, despite the fact their own country did indeed have the death sentence. It was rarely used, which created a feeling like it didn't exist in their world at all. Now with the fact that it loomed over them dangerously. Now the two of them understood what Eva meant by the night before, it was clear now.

"_I only say this for your sakes; don't use Alchemy, otherwise you'll be digging your own graves soon enough."_

"Knowing those consequences that could happen to you, your brother, as well as myself. Do you really want to know about our country's alchemy?" the miner asked, tearing the boys from the dark suggestions in their minds. The room descended into stillness again. The man waited calmly for the answer while the boys allowed their minds to clarify what to do. The warnings were truly there, however, what hung in front of them could very well be the single they need in order to reach there goal. It almost seemed fitting that it could lead to a death sentence. In the end, there really was only one true option.

The room's silence and stillness drew to a close as the elder brother spoke, "We've got no choice. There's something my brother and I need to do, and alchemy's the only option. So can you tell us what Drachmen Alchemy is or not?"

Ed stared the man right in the eyes, his golden ones holding determination and ambition burning inside them. The man showed a single sign of what may have been surprised, a small flinch followed by a smirk. The expression melted away once again and the man breathed a sigh before he spoke again, "It is used in for both Military and Medicine, usually depending on the region the alchemist is in. Every direction has a slightly different profession since Drachma very large; the needs change, so does the Alchemy."

"The East the more chances alchemy is being used for the good of the people. More agricultural there, more herbs and close to Xing. The North is more militaristic but has ocean there. The more west is the more alchemy was used for war, similar to Southern Region. South has more non-metal and metallic conversions, like alloys; it more equally based of the two. It was a good tool for the people, that is until they banned it."

Ed raised an eyebrow at this, slightly interested. However, it wasn't as in depth as he would've liked. The man obviously had no desire to give him much information. _"At least we've got him talking now,_" Ed thought. However, he asked something on a different subject, _"_Is there something special about your alchemy as a whole?"

"Drachmen alchemy specializes on liquid and non metals mostly. There have been records of a type of ice created by an alchemist with low melting point long ago, which is much of the basis of our alchemy, and other similar discoveries," the man spoke after a small pause, as if unsure before proceeding on with his expatiation. "Carbon also something they worked with quite a bit. That is all I can say," The man continued. "I guess all Drachmen Alchemists left their mark somewhere."

The more this man continued to talk, the more Ed found more questions rather than answers. Alexei's father seemed to try to make it sound like the alchemy of Amestris with no other interest other than that. However, he wasn't the first person that didn't wish to talk with them about a certain subject. It cam with the territory of being a so called 'Dog of the Military'. However, the single thing that stuck out was the uses, it seemed like a tool that would not be simply abolished.

"Why would they ban alchemy if it was just as useful to the government as it was to the people?" Al asked, beating Edward to the question.

The Drachmen shook his head, "Nobody knows for sure, our Tsar chose the laws as he see fit; we don't have much choice. The rule was just...sent out one day. At first everyone thought it was joke, but once executions started and people began to be punished for the practice, more people stopped. If I were to give guess though, I would say it had to do with something similar to Ala."

"Ala? Who is that?" Ed spoke, interested in the new name.

"'Who are** they**, actually. They are group of Drachmens that government considers a terrorist group. They say they wish to give Drachma better ruling than just Dictatorship we live with now. Government obviously doesn't want that. You can never tell though, maybe Ala are in wrong. There really not a way to tell who is good in world; it all about perspective," the adult explained.

"So Alchemy could give people the chance to create a rebellion. It could be used a trump card of some kind and would allow them to level the field more," replied Edward calmly.

"Right, just like how military used to use it for. In Drachma, it is the strong who rules, they control rest of us. That is why the rest must be strong as well to take burden. Those who go rogue are asking for death."

Once the word 'death' was spoken, the silent background became broken by muffled sounds of a shuffling outside. It had a messy rhythm to it, every beat melding together to create enough noise to allow it inside the room.

"_The miners probably came back," _Al thought. The man stood up from his chair, as it something had startled him, with only one leg to stand on, his balance diminished in mere seconds. However, Al moved as quickly as he saw the adult wobble, grasping the man's supper arm to keep him stable.

"Thank you," the miner spoke, using Al as balance until his hand found the crutch. He almost immediately tucked the crutch under his armpit to allow him to stand once more. Once he no longer needed Al to support him, the man hobbled as quickly as he could out of the door.

"What the hell is going on?" Edward asked, following the man; Al trailing behind the two.

The man looked back for only a moment, and for the first time, Ed found a small hint of fear within the man's. "There is only one time miners come this early; troops. Tsar must be looking for taxes again." With that, the man repositioned his crutch and exited the room altogether.

They met Alexei in the hallway, he was almost running, seeming as shaken as the time in the mines. He stopped short, but continued to tremble from time to time. Although, his voice betrayed him, "They are here, Father. The Southern General's men."

The man instantly looked over his shoulder to the younger Elric, a tone of seriousness that seemed to burn ever so deeper, like pits of black. "You two should leave now, there will be military all over soon. Better to leave now than later. Quite unlucky."

"_You don't know the half of it," _Ed thought bitterly, "Just when we were getting somewhere." The boys left rather quickly, returning to the cold elements outside once more.

Just as Alexei had spoken, the once nearly barren town was turned into a completely different place. The children and woman had retreated into their homes, miners and men in black uniforms the only ones outside. Each adult seemed on edge, even though some of the soldiers were clearly armed; showing the gun as if it were no harm to society.

Suddenly Alexei appeared back into few, but for only a few moments. As he jogged through the street, his thick jacket showed something tucked into his pants besides his shirt yet under the coat; a pistol.

"Brother, maybe we should head back to Eve's house. I don't think it's a good idea to stick around any longer," Al whispered in his brother's ear.

"Maybe..." Ed mumbled, inspecting the situation. He could probably be able to take out a couple guys if need be. However, if there was enough soldiers, it would prove to be a risky fight. Either way, if he had to, Ed was willing to punch a couple guys lights out.

"This isn't back home, Brother, we should go back before something happens," Al replied, lightly insisting further they should leave Yegor. "We'll came back later."

"Fine..." Ed grumbled.

Besides the marching soldiers and tense atmosphere looming over the town, the walk was fairly uneventful. Rounding the corners and walking down the snow compressed streets, the brothers picked the path with as little amount of people. If they were found out they were from another country, with Ed being an officer of an enemy country, it could lead to disaster.

However, all it took to snatch away an easy walk back out of town was broken with a single noise; a gunshot. For a moment silence followed; a gloomy following that only could describe tragedy.


	5. Chapter 5

Time itself seemed to wait for the sound of retaliation; some sign of an approaching fight. However, after a moment or two, the silence decayed as most people began to move along warily. Nobody seemed to be very shocked nor startled, they just composed themselves as if it were completely normal.

"Come on, Al!" Ed told his brother before the two bolted off down the road, slipping past some of the people who were going about their regular business. As the Elric brothers searched for the scene, more and more people crowded the streets. The only significance of where the shot had gone off was a small group people clustered together in front of a single alley. It took a minute or two for the brothers to make their way through the crowd of people. The moment they caught sight of the scene, Edward grimaced.

A few people surrounding the dying man slumped against the wall. Blood stained his clothes and part of the ground, staining it a deep pink colour. The few people out of the many in the crowd were desperately trying to stop the blood flow. At first it seemed like a type of mugging, but it took the act of one man placing a cloth onto the man's chest, pressing down despite the blood that seeped from the wound; the others trying to assist as best as they could.

There was a shout from one of the men in Drachmen, it got some people moving though. Some rushed into the alley while others fled. It got Edward moving as well, following the crowd towards the man. However when Ed was able to get a closer look, his eyes widened. The bullet had struck the man's chest, the hole in the clothing showed no alternative, but there was a vicious gash on the lower stomach as well as one especially deep below a tattoo on the forearm. They looked deep from some sort of sharp weapon. It was then that Ed stepped back from the group of people, feeling useless and a sick feeling washing over him; this man had a small chance of living.

A pair of wailing voices suddenly erupted behind Alphonse, two people, one strong-built teenage boy and a fragile young woman racing into the scene and crowding the group, crying out of their native tongue. There was almost no doubt they were friends or family to the man. Their voices increases, thick with the universal tone of grief, signalling the death of the man.

Despair was contagious, it contaminated the air like a haze of gloom and lowered the hearts of those nearby. Ed took one more look at the sight, partially wondering how it escalated to such a high level. However, most of his mind was distracted by those living and the present. The sobs and cries of sorrow along with the silence of the crowd took Edward back to his mother's deathbed; where she died in front of his eyes.

That memory in itself sparked both anger and sorrow into Edward. Taking a breath and clenching his fists, Ed returned to the outside of the alley. "Come on, Al," he muttered to his brother, "There's nothing we can do."

"Yeah," Al replied, following his brother back onto the main road. It was surprising to the brothers that there was someone possibly dying and the soldiers stayed at their posts, as if the situation didn't exist at all. Ed couldn't help but scowl, at least the Amestrian Soldiers had the decency to do their jobs and protect their people.

As Ed looked over each soldier, he spotted a small flash of red appear and vanish just as quickly as one black uniformed soldier swung his arm. The soldier tucked the item into his coat before continuing on his way. Curiosity snatched Edward's attention from the original plan of going back to Eva's house and transitioned it to discovering what this particular soldier has carrying.

The soldier looked back over his soldier, glancing at Edward for only a second, for a brief moment before slipping into the closest alley, picking up the pace at the last moment in sight.

"Brother, wait!" Al called after Edward, who dashed into the alleyway after the Drachmen soldier. Edward ignored his brother, the usual voice of reasoning, and focused on keeping track of the man. When the soldier exited the alleyway, he seemed to try to meld into the crowd, passing soldiers and civilians alike. Edward ran into the crowd, weaving in between people at a quicker pace only due to size alone.

It took almost no time for the boy to reach out and grab a fist-full of the man's coat. In an instant, the man whirled around, a whistling sound cutting the silence. Edward jumped back, releasing the thick black cloth. The man held a dagger, stained in red, in defence; the black eyes that stared at Ed looked like nothing more than a wild animal's.

Instinct of two years of fighting in Amestris quickly took over Edward. Without the consideration of where he was or the warnings that had been told, Ed moved his hands in order preform Alchemy. "Brother, don't!" Al's voice shouted, shattering Ed's concentration.

Al had grabbed Ed from behind, holding both of his wrists in order to keep them from making contact. Ed was about to ask why when he noticed not one soldier was staring at them, but four; all in different directions. Three of them held out a gun, aimed right at the young Amestrian. He had focused solely on one person, disregarding that they were foreign officers momentarily. Being a soldier had its perks, one being that other soldiers regarded you as an ally; for the most part. If Al hadn't been there, it was almost guaranteed that Edward would've been shot by at least one soldier.

"Let me go, Al," Edward instructed Al, trying to twist his wrists out of his brother's grasp. However, Alphonse didn't let him go; most likely out of fear of Ed committing a reckless act.

"But-" Al replied back with tension in his voice, only to be interrupted.

"I'm fine, just let me go," Ed told him, attempting to drain the anger from his voice. Part of him wished to lie and be as reckless as possible but Edward knew it would be extremely unwise. _'With three guns on me, there's no way I'd get out of here in one piece,' _he reasoned bitterly.

Warily, the brothers walked back to where they had come from, watching each person carefully but keeping a main focus on the soldiers. The further Ed and Al backed off, the more the soldiers lowered their weapons, acting as cautious as the brothers. Once all three guns were at their sides, the brothers turned the corner away from that particular street.

The walk back seemed almost unreal with the idea of death and harsh penalties in the two boys' heads. The weather remained clear, no signs of blizzards or storms. It was peaceful in the wilderness, but the town itself held the opposite atmosphere; restlessness. It seemed to be a relief to be surrounded by the quiet rather than the town; a distant reminder of how their own hometown was like.

When the boys entered the house, footsteps instantly signalled another person already in the home. Eve walked down the hallway at a quick pace, as if on edge over something. "Eduard, Alfonse, you two are back," she spoke. "You went exploring?"

"Yeah, there was some things we had to check out," Ed replied as he took off his red coat and goggles.

"Well, there soldiers everywhere now, little chance that you can get back across border. Waiting is best," Eve added, her body relaxing as she spoke. Ed tensed up, the recent memory racing into his thoughts before he had to push it back. He tightened his grip on his coat, roughly placing it on a hanger.

"Something happened?" Eve guessed, watching the frustrated boy with interest.

"Yeah, someone was killed by some random soldier," Ed snapped, anger burning within himself. He had been right there and yet couldn't save him. Part of Ed knew if he had gotten there earlier, he could have saved a life; but that was not to be. That idea alone made Ed feel frustrated and angry.

However, Eve seemed not very shaken by that simple fact. Her body tensed only slightly, showing she was nervous but not nearly as upset as Ed was about the idea. It was almost as if it were normal. She sighed before she spoke,

"Drachma centres around military. Soldier is higher paying job, but there is harsh training. Folks say they fight and kill beasts in closed room for part of it, train for survival in snow, and how to fire gun. The worst I hear is soldiers torture one another, one to train for interrogations and other to deal with it. Some of them die from interrogation practice. The Secret Police are worse, trained harsher too. With that kind of training some soldiers get jumpy, especially new ones," she explained calmly, "It was a simple shoot and run."

"No, it wasn't. That man had a knife wound. That man was killed in cold blood," Ed replied, frustration obvious in his voice.

"Do you really think one man to government means that much? On top of the fact that he could be Ala, there are plenty of people in this country. Even those who look fragile not all that delicate, just look at the land. Us Drachmens live in tundra, where growing season is too short; we cannot grow anything except in one small place in border; the west. We need to be strong, even children need to be strong. Life isn't easy here, with high taxes and limited resources in most places. It sounds cruel but it is truth." As Eve explained she didn't truly make eye contact or look at them. It was more like she was looking past them, her mind somewhere else possibly. As if the whole situation was nothing, Eve mumbled lowly before leaving the boys in the hall, "I get back to work on making meal now."

The last sentence certainly caught Ed's attention, the idea of a meal never being a bad idea in his mind. Having something to eat would probably lighten his mood, however there were more pressing matters he had to deal with before that. One of which being what they would do next.

After the meal, Al and Ed hung out in the living room for a little while. While keeping a watch on their Drachmen host, the two waited patiently. The moment they caught the black haired woman walk up the stairs and out of hearing range, the two of them proceeded to talk.

"What should be do now, Brother?" Al asked as his elder brother closed his small notebook that he had been flipping through just moments ago, most likely analyzing the small amount of information he had scribbled down over the northern nation's alchemy.

Ed crossed his arms and shrugged, "Well, if Eve is right, we can't go back to Amestris until most of the soldiers leave, since there's probably troops patrolling the border right now. We might as well continue to try to find out more. We practically just scratched the surface of this type of Alchemy."

"Do you think Alexei's father will tell us anymore?"

Ed sighed before replying, "I doubt it, he gave us a hard enough time just getting the basics, trying to scare us off and all. Even if he does know more, I don't think he's gonna tell us anymore than what he already did."

"It makes sense why though," Al added, thinking back to what they had seen before. It was no doubt that the soldiers could easily be as heartless and cruel as the stories in Amestris claimed them to be. There had always been the stereotype of Drachmen's being cold and brutal, but back then it felt like they were some sort of monster in a story; of course they hadn't truly expected it to be all true. It seemed a select few could fit the role perfectly.

_'There's got to be something more though,' _Ed thought_, 'Something we've missed.' _He refused to think there was no clue to where to look, some miniscule lead that could give them much more information. _'Nobody in their right mind's are gonna say anything about Drachmen alchemy, that's for sure. Not with that many risks attached. Maybe books or journals, but I bet any Alchemy books were probably destroyed,'_ Ed pondered, ruling out several things as he went along.

"If you were an Alchemist needing to hide information from others, like written documents, where would you hide it?" Ed mumbled to himself. Al caught this brother's

"Well, I know I'd probably pick somewhere that would not have too many people looking around, so there is a less chance of hiding it, then again, it would also be wise to hide it in plain site. That way, if you disguise it, it will be in the last place anyone would look for it."

There was a moment of silence before Ed replied with a smile, closing his book,"Maybe he did give us some clue to go on after all."

Surprise rang in through Al's voice, "Really?"

"Yeah, but if I'm right, we're going to have to go through town again, and today too," Ed replied, the once heavy feelings fleeing him and returning him to his regular self.

"Why not just wait?" Al asked, confusion taking over. Due to the event of a death, Al expected Edward not to even think about going back for another day, let alone in a couple of hours.

"The workers got off work earlier than usual, whatever time that is, so that means we've got a better chance," Ed reasoned, excitement making his body constantly move, even if it seemed to be very little.

"Ed, what do you mean?" Al asked, wondering what his older brother was thinking.

"I'll explain later, let's just go!" With that, Ed practically ran for the front door.

Unlike before, the mine was dark and completely vacant. Due to the rust that covered some of the pipes and gears, if they hadn't been there earlier, Ed and Al would've suspected nobody had been there for years. However, the darkness wasn't that much of a problem due to the amount of lanterns that were hung in the dim lighting of the sunlight. Once the lantern was lit, the two of them moved along into the dark mines without much trouble.

"So what's here that we haven't already seen?" Al asked, examining the darkness that seemed to lurk in the building.

"Something that could tell us more," Ed replied as he walked deeper into the darkness. "Alexei told me underground that his father and Isosif explored the mines quite a bit and that it had been there since anyone could remember. I was thinking that somewhere in those tunnels could be some research notes."

"But Ed, we don't know that for sure; it's only a guess!" Al protested. He had spent one time waiting for his brother to return from the caves below, however it was a little better since there was someone accompanying Ed, now there was the option of Ed going alone.

"No, I'm pretty sure I'm right, Alexei's father said it himself that 'every alchemist has left their mark'. The mines are the most significant place here, both well known in Yegor and somewhere nobody would really look. Most people are miners, not Alchemists, they probably don't even care about it if they did find it, and anyone who's after things like that wouldn't know anything about where the mines lead."

"You barely know anything about the mines, Ed. What if you don't come out?"

"Well, if you're that insistent, then you can go with me," Ed replied. The vertically challenged brother walked over to the large square cut in the earth, closed by two secure metal doors. The main elevator-like contraption was hoisted above the steel doors, allowed enough space to open them. "We can use the main shaft. It's the best bet to finding those notes anyways. You saw what the cord can hold; everything should be fine."

Al's metal footsteps echoed with ever step he took. Just as Ed had told him, the cord had held on fine. All they had to do was slip down it until they reached the ground floor. "I thought you said you were never going to do this again," Al commented, his voice gaining an increased echoing effect to it.

"T-This is pretty important, Al. Besides, it's not like I wanted to come down here to look for somebody's notes. We didn't have much of an option," Ed replied back before focusing more on the details within the limited light they had.

If a suit of armour could roll its eyes, Al would've done so. His voice rung, as if letting out a sigh, before following Edward further into the darkness.

However, it seemed less likely that the brother's would find anything in the tunnels, searching all around for anything that looked like an entrance to another part of the underground catacombs. The brothers discovered several entrances that had been subjected to cave-ins and it seemed any of the tunnels they suspected to be hiding something they were looking for only lead to dead-ends.

"Dammit!" Ed shouted, "Where the hell could you hide a whole bunch of notes and yet not leave a single trace!?"

"There could just be nothing here, Brother, or maybe we aren't looking in the right spot," Al suggested. "Maybe we're missing something."

Ed sighed, placing a hand on the side of the cave for temporary support. "The question is, what_ are_ we missing?" Ed replied. Ed could slowly feeling the strength drain from his body, it had been a pretty long day for him; running around in order to find any information. The small signs of future fatigue suggested that he should end it rather soon.

It was then that Ed felt his hand move slightly beyond his command, messing with his balance only for a second; it was as if the wall was slippery. Drawing his hand back to inspect further, instantly noticed the smudged dirt over the palm of his glove.

There on the wall was a mark where his hand was, dirt and dust wiped away in the distorted shape of Ed's moving hand.

"Brother, is that special kind of ice, the one we talked about earlier?" Al asked, running his hand over it as if he could feel the cool temperature it most likely gave off.

Ed knocked on it with the back of his automail fist, testing out what effect it might have. However, it seemed that it was barely making a sound, let alone allowed the metal to put a crack into it. _'How long would it take to get it to crack,'_ Ed pondered, his scientific mind beginning to ask questions over the newly found crystalline lattice. He couldn't help but grin over this, the questions of the new crystallized compound making Ed feel excited for what could lie beyond it.

"Brother?" Al asked, placing his hand on Ed's shoulder.

The touch seemed to pull Ed back to reality, answering his younger brother, "Yeah, it probably is. It's pretty solid even though it should've broke from something happening down here. Doesn't seem like there's even a crack on it."

Al slipped his hand off his brother before looking at the thick ice. The younger Elric couldn't help but marvel at the work too, being that it was the first time either of them had seen alchemy like this. He commented, "Using the ice to create a wall and then coating it with regular dust in order to conceal it, that's pretty clever of him."

"Still, no matter what kind of ice it is, it's going to be constructed of Hydrogen and Oxygen if it's actually ice, regardless of its melting or boiling point," Ed replied, raising his hands and putting them together."So let's give it a go!"

The moment Ed touched the ice, the familiar feeling rushed through him as blue sparks appeared and danced. He had to admit to himself it felt nice to be able to use his alchemy again freely, without the Drachmen laws to worry about. However, the pleasant feelings drifted away as quickly as they came. The ice, that once was a barrier to whatever laid behind it, slowly vanished, evaporating into Hydrogen and Oxygen. It took a little longer than normal, due to heating up the atoms before being able to transition the solid to a liquid or a gas, but the wall of ice became nothing more than a light haze.

In front of the brothers was an entrance, smaller than the usual mine shafts they had seen before, including in Drachma. Al couldn't help but feel relief fill him up, seeing that the entrance was taller than it was wide; he would be able to accompany his brother.

"Well, it was definitely ice," Ed mumbled before speaking up, eager to get to their prize. "Hope you're ready for a tight fit." Shortly after the words left his mouth, Ed slipped into the hidden tunnel. Al followed close behind, sideways with a simple, "Wait up!"

It didn't take long for the Ed to understand what a Claustrophobic person would feel like, without the fear. Slowly the tunnel gradually became more narrow. There was barely any room for Al to slip by with out gaining a scratch and Ed was sure that if anything, it was made for someone skinny or small.

"Ed, I don't think I'm going to be able to go much further," Al called as he nervously moved forward, each step forward threatening to scrape his armour against the tough material.

"It's got to be up ahead pretty soon, Al," Ed reassured him. "Do you think you can hang on for a little bit longer?"

"Maybe," Al replied, the tone sounding nervous and unsure at best.

It seemed luck was going to allow them just a bit more leeway, as it only took a couple more cautious steps before the once narrow passage suddenly opened up. Holding up the lantern, the blond instantly noticed the several books stacked on top of each other.

Ed grinned in triumph, racing over to further inspect them. "Al, we found them!" Ed called and instantly traded the lantern for a book.

It was obviously written in Drachmen, strange characters that left Ed disappointed and confused. However, the arrays remained simple as any could be. Some books contained the basic arrays, others intermediate, and finally the precious books with advanced diagrams and arrays.

Examining the new array drawn on its own page, detailed with many lines, most pointed in one direction yet some not. Ed looked up at his brother, who managed to slip through the crack with little damage. He held up the book and told Al, "We hit the jackpot."


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Sorry for how late this is, I totally lost track of time. This is kind of the interlude before some of the second half. (Also this story may get a revised version since it was cut short in order to be finished for the Big Bang date.) Anyway, I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

"There's not much reason to encode something the way it was back in the mine," Al had commented as he scribbled down a few more words after translating it.

Luckily, the boys didn't have as much work to do as they could have. They had only back brought back some of the books, leaving the rest back in the small cavern. It had simply seemed to be slight variations of Amestris alchemy, suggesting both types had simply branched off from a more ancient one. A few of the terms from the books struck the most attention to the brothers; one being Ice-9.

"I would bet on my State Certification that the ice we saw back in the mines was Ice-9," Ed had spoken up after reading the information on it.. He then began to summarize the topic, looking up at Al and not needing the book for assistance. Ed was known as a Prodigy for a reason, his memorization skills being one of them. "It has a melting point of 45.8 Celsius. It is known to be able to withstand extreme conditions for certain periods of time, depending on the environment it's put in. It also able to make water lower than itself freeze and become what they call a 'Polymorph', or more Ice-9. There is a high chance that this polymorph is poisonous to anything that is made up of a high amount of water, due to its ability to freeze over water and change its structure on its own."

Despite the fact the two of them started out with a thirst for knowledge and the youthful excitement, it gradually went downhill after discovering some of the darker subjects. There were some topics on ways to help others, like medicine and healing wounds, something Al and Ed wished they had known sooner, and several other means. However, the more militaristic side showed its ugly head eventually in the form of several pages of potential war tools. Mixing acids with poisons to be used for interrogations, mixing poisons in order to create a more deadly effect, and even using highly reactive gases and placing them into grenades. Ice-9 appeared later on as one of these, using them to kill or interrogate.

It was almost painfully clear that Drachmens weren't all that much of the joking type.

It was during one of their days of translating and researching that Al pointed out something rather interesting. Standing up and placing the papers on top of the ones Ed had been reading, earning him a "Hey!" and a stern look, Al explained, "Take a look at this, Brother."

"The Blood Diamond, huh? Sounds interesting enough," Ed replied, before beginning to read over it. His eyes widened, gripping the pages as he realized what was behind the simple name. It was a red stone that could not be broken, known as an alchemical amplifier. "It's the Philosopher's Stone!" he gasped, reading over the details. The fabled stone was what they had been after for years. It seemed that even seeing it in this kind of book made Ed wonder, '_Does this Iosif guy know anything interesting about this!?'_

The uplifting idea that they could create the stone was short lived as Edward and Al flipped through the translated notes. After extensive research, Ed sighed as he placed the papers down beside him. "Looks like there's nothing on how to find _or_ make the stone," Ed spoke, frustration coating his voice.

"The fact it's in an alchemist's notes could lead to a chance of a method or theory," Al pointed out, sorting some more of the papers of Amestrian notes. "Maybe we can find something out."

"Hey, what's this?" Al muttered, picking up one of the pages from his stack. "It's another picture of an animal."

Ed shifted from his position on the floor, surrounded by a circle of stacks of paper. Reaching over to the side to take another sheet off one of the stacks. "Another one, huh? Guess that makes two now. What kind it is?" Ed asked. Out of the several papers, the two boys had discovered a thin, almost translucent, thickness of tracing paper. The dog had X marks etched deeply into the paper; another stroke of a pen and it would be sure to rip it. The Xs were marked on the head tail and belly. Along with that the Xs was a symbol in one of the corners with the symbol for Earth; being a triangle pointing downwards with a line through the top. Apparently there was more than just one.

"It's a kind of bird," Al stated, turning it around in order to examine it. It was indeed a bird, one drawn as if it were just a shadow, a dull shade of grey. There were four large X marks that stood out easily on the creature; the beak, the two symmetrical wings that stretched across the paper, the last X marked over the tail feathers of the bird. Along with it was the symbol for air; the triangle pointing upwards with a line though it near the top. "I wonder why he'd spend his time making these. Maybe there's even more of a hint in these."

"Yeah, I guess, at least we've got an idea about how these guys use their alchemy now. Being that they use the flow of water underneath the ground and are even able to use kinetic energy if they need to, it obvious it took a while to develop the style," Ed replied.

The door suddenly flung open, causing the boy's to jump at the sudden noise. Both boy's whirled around to see, Eve in the doorway, watching their reaction. "I see you still alive in here," she stated, almost if it were a joke. However, it was hard to tell simply kidding around to being serious with the thick, low accent mixing up the words and tones.

"Yeah, why wouldn't we be?" Ed asked, raising an eyebrow. The adult only shrugged in reply. Her expression was lax and calm she looked around the room, surveying its condition.

"Eve, do you have any idea what a bird and a dog could mean at all?" Al asked. The woman seemed to come to life a little more, moving into the room, trying to avoid any straying papers.

"I don't know," she replied, crossing her arms as she made her way towards Al. "Let me see?" The brothers handed her two of the papers, which she put over one another. Her dark eyebrows furrowed before she spoke again.

"Cygnus and Vulpecula..." she murmured before speaking up, "Two constellations very close to one another. Vulpecula caught Cygnus by neck, as story goes. Cygnus looks like cross in sky, Vulpecula only a guess though. There also star on page, so that was maybe hint."

"So there's only four points in this Cygnus thing?" Ed asked as the woman handed the papers back. Sure enough, the earth and water symbols overlapped, creating a star in the corner. It seemed the two animals held something more.

"Five," the northern woman corrected. "But four points connected to middle point make cross."

"Could we borrow a map of the country?" the blond alchemist asked rather suddenly, gaining a surprised look on the woman's face. Ed had to admit, it was amusing to see the usual neutral expression change to something like that. She quietly nodded before returning to the hallway once again.

"You think the symbols in the corners mean something else?" Al asked, standing up from his seat on the floor.

"Yeah, the air symbol could mean the sky, so maybe that was what it connected to instead of the stars. It could be that the earth symbol means a map and you need to put them together," Ed replied as he further inspected the unusual marks on the drawings.

"To create points on the map," Al finished, approaching his brother for further inspection.

Eve came in with a scroll, rolling it out on the floor once the three of them created enough space to allow it to expend to its full size. Shortly after the map was set in place, the woman disappeared once again, leaving the boys to their work.

Ed's face fell the moment he saw the large map, clearly the pages were too small for this scale of the map. "Looks like we're gonna need to scale one of them to size if we want to see if anything will work," Ed concluded.

"Maybe not," Al suggested, causing Ed to look up at him. Soulfire eyes looked over the map, then at the two animal drawing before adding on to his statement. "Even though we didn't find a map, there's a chance that we don't actually need one for the first part."

He then pointed at the three dots, two marked as two and one as a city according to the legend on the side of the map. "If you put a line on each one, they'd lead to the middle."

Ed's expression instantly lightened, seeing the connection. "Meaning Yegor is the southern point. So we've already got Cyngus, all we need to do is figure out what points Vulpecula is! We might actually find out some more than simple basics! Maybe even a formula for the stone!"

Al nodded, "Right." With that, the brothers began to measure out the lines of the two different pages. Since most of the puzzle had been solved, there was simply mathematics left to deal with. With their talent, it took almost no time at all to discover the scale and resize where the Vulpecula lines would be.

As Al looked over the size, he noticed the blue sparks appear in the room once again. "Ed!" Al scolded, stopping immediately from the math had had been working on.

"We need to be exact, might as well make sure it's straight," Ed replied, holding up the ruler he had constructed.

"What if someone saw you!" Al protested, his voice reaching a slightly higher pitch.

"Calm down, Al. We're in the middle of nowhere and the only one who's seen me use it was Eve, and she hasn't said a word. Besides, I'll transmute it back," Ed reassured his brother, twirling the ruler with his fingers haphazardly. "Let's just get back to work." With Al shaking his head, the younger brother gave in and resumed work until the scale was completed.

"The heads are probably nearby one another, as reference to the constellations, right?" Al confirmed, positioning their makeshift ruler Ed had constructed out of Alchemy.

"Yep," Ed confirmed, seeing that the first mark was not too far from the capital city in the north, directly south east this time. Having realized the size would actually not fit unless used at a certain angle, the brothers had tried several times to get it right.

"Alright, so this next one should be in the Eastern region," Al spoke, moving the wooden tool to the next

"Yeah, hopefully it fits this time,"Ed spoke up, watching as the two of them measured out the estimated size it would be.

To their delight, the second point remained on the map. Pointing the direction of Creta and a town in the East, just off from the town mark.

The final one was much more of a relief, especially since it remained on the map. Strangely enough, it was located beside Yegor. Instantly Ed realized what it was, Al catching on rather quickly.

"It's the mines," Ed spoke, a grin on his face.

"So there's something about the other two points that are related to Alchemy, since Yegor's mine was where this stuff was hidden in the first place," Al replied. "What could the other be?"

"I don't know but we're going to have to check it out," Ed spoke then pointed to the one near the top. "We might as well start with the furthest one, Krost City."

* * *

Life had a way of giving Edward a hard time once things started to look up and it seemed intent on keeping it that way.

"Are you sure the trains are going to be running in this kind of weather!?" Edward called over the harsh winds. The once clear days had passed by, leaving Drachma's Southern lands with the wrath of the weather.

With the particularly bad weather, though not as bad as the prior storm, the goggles he had been given were quite useful. The world seemed more defined and clear, and Ed was actually able to see Eve ahead of them. It was deffinately better than the infinite blur from before. It made it easy to follow the fence that stretched out into the wilderness, staying strong in the wind despite its age. It seemed out of place though, as if the snow covering the ground was keeping secrets from everyone. However, the wooden crosses scattered ominously beyond it whispered small suggestions of misfortune.

"Da, they can work in blizzard easy. Trains designed for weather like this," Eve reassured the boy as they walked. "And war, just in case."

'_So the trains are used for war; probably for transport,' _Ed assumed as he tried to look ahead for any sort of landmark, building, or train; estimating it to look not much different than the trains back in Amestris.

Coming out of the veil of white, was a decently sized building, the only structure made of stone and cement in Drachma. The steps were wide and carved from stone, covered in ice and snow; just like everything else in Drachma. The sign that was kept on the building by a single train most likely was in Drachmen, stating it was Yegor's Train Station.

Th true surprise laid on the train itself, which seemed to long to keep fit behind the station. Metallic grey and black stood out from the white. The form of transport seemed almost nothing like that of a train except for the bulky, steel-plated cars attached to one another that only slightly resembled a Amestrian train. However, it seemed simple as well as intimidating, sparing no detail for the regular citizens but for war and storms; just as Eve said.

"That's a train!?" Al asked, dumbfounded as they carefully made their way of the stairs; stealing one more glance at the contraption.

"Must be. I've got to admit, it's pretty badass," Ed spoke, pulling off the goggles the moment they were inside the station that left faint rings around his eyes after their long use

Al responded with a simple sigh.


	7. Chapter 7

Usually riding on a train wasn't all that bad, it provided some down time for the brothers between Ed's work and their search and was the fastest way to travel across Amestris. However, it seemed this trip across the country proved to be much too long. Apparently Drachma's trains were much different than what the Elric brothers were used to besides just their looks. As it turned out, there were no trains scheduled to go straight from Yegor to Krost City; leading to several transfers and stops in several towns.

Due to the circumstances, it felt like an accomplishment all in its own the moment the Conductor called the station's location, "Krost City! Krost City!"

Ed instantly shot out of his seat, speaking his displeasure, "Finally, we're here. It took way too long to get here."

"We're one step away, Brother," Al announced, standing up.

"Yeah. Come on, let's get out of here," Ed replied, retrieving his travelling trunk from underneath the seat. Once they were set, the brothers exited the steel train.

The station's crowd alone stated the city's popularity. That aspect resembled Central City closely, everyone so close together it could make one feel claustrophobic. The voices of several people talking to others merged together to create a sea of noise. It contrasted the practically empty Train station of Yegor to the highest degree. Making it through the crowd seemed like a small challenge in and of itself. However, it wasn't until the moment that the boy's left the station that they first realized how different the mining town was from the Northern city.

Tall structures stretched up from the city and several marvellous towers could be seen throughout. The buildings were all shapes and sizes, ranging from newly build to pristine condition. People of all kinds walked down the busy streets, ignoring the cold climate completely as if the chilling temperature didn't exist.

"Seems pretty busy, doesn't it?" Al remarked.

"Yeah," Ed replied almost distant before realizing his tone and speaking up. "The lab was south west of the map, so that's where we should head off to. The sooner we get there the better."

"We might as well take a look around, Brother, just in case we have to stay the night."

"Alright, let's just make it quick,"

There was a downside to the massive and accomplished city, two of which were the twisting roads and the confusing masses of people. Like Central, people were wearing expensive looking clothes and items, all walking a brisk pace in different direction as if they were worried they would be late. Each seemed to not care what the others were doing, no matter if they appeared sickly or healthy. Even though they ignored the brothers completely, as if they were only shadows, people strayed away from them; not wishing to get close. "Guess they don't like outsiders," Ed spoke out the obvious before the two continued on to explore the town.

During their exploration of the large, flourishing city, something caught the older brother's eye once they hit the northern edge of the city. It was difficult to miss due size. A large wall towered over the one side of the city, as if separating it from something beyond it. It reminded the brothers of the Wall of Briggs, sturdy and powerful. However, the large openings that acted as passage to what laid behind it was an odd characteristic. On top of the wall were elaborately designed towers, standing vigilante in a row along the massive structure.

"Hey, Al! Let's go check out what's over there, one final thing before we head off to the lab," Ed told his brother, rapping the back of his automail fist on the armour to get his brother's attention. Even though Al could not feel touch, the sound of metal against metal caught his attention. With a simple notification, the brothers merged into the small crowd of people, fishermen by the looks of them. The small tunnel in the stone wall seemed large enough to fit a decent sized building, maybe even two.

Beyond the wall held something that caused both brother's to halt and stare, almost dumbfounded. There was a body of water neither brother had ever seen, so large there was no sign of where it ended in all directions except for the South. Thick sheets of ice stretched out, acting like a frigid beach with its arctic waters.

"That's gotta be the ocean," Ed breathed, watching the waves rock the huge boats and chunks of ice. With Amestris only holding large lakes, no born Amestrian had truly seen the ocean unless they travelled far; until now the Elrics held true to that as well.

"It's pretty," Al nearly whispered, captivated by the sight. "I never thought it would be this big though, even if our books back home said it."

"Everything here seems nice, even if it seems to hide militaristic aspects of it," Ed replied, looking up at the towers. It took a keen eye, but it was possible to see the cannons on the lower level windows. "The Government allowed and funded it, but it looks like it's just a glamourous fishing town."

"It's kinda unfair though," Al commented.

"What do you mean by that, Al?"

"I mean, any of the towns we passed through could've gotten some of the funding to make them a little better. It seemed like this place is one of the few places that Drachma decided to favour. Seeing everyone working hard in the Yegor mines, they looked like they were working hard yet it seems they weren't getting much back," Al explained.

"Yeah, it seems so," Ed agreed.

Sometimes the world can be a very cruel place to live.

Finding the lab turned out to be more difficult than they had thought. With its location outside city limits, the brothers ended up walking in the wilderness once again. "You'd think finding a building in a place like this would be easy," Ed grumbled.

"Maybe, we're in the wrong spot?" Al asked, glancing every which way. No matter the direction, it seemed to stretch on as white fields for eternity. "Or they might've destroyed the facility."

"It better not be, it's the last chance we've-ah!" The next thing Ed knew, something solid caught his foot and sent him into the snow. The soft ice that covered the ground stung his face. As Ed picked himself up from the snow drift Al made his way over as fast as he could. "You okay!?" the younger brother asked.

"Yeah," Ed replied, standing up and looking down to the location where his foot had gotten caught on something. A grin spread across the older brother's features, crouching down beside it. "And I think we found what we were looking for." With the simple statement, Ed pointed at the metal handle with spots of rust sticking out from the layer of white.

Getting the large hatch uncovered was as simple as any would think; evaporating the snow and ice with alchemy, the trip down the dark hole into the earth was just as easy. The eerie silence below was almost identical to that of caves.

"Well, do you want to go first or should I?" Ed asked, peering down as if to try to see where the bottom was.

"I'll go first," Al told his brother, slipping into the large hole and began to climb down the ladder. Despite the looks of age on the hatch, the handles that allowed passage to whatever laid below were strong, not even one groan of protest to Al's huge body as they climbed down. After a couple minutes, Ed joined his brother, closing the hatch before following him down below.

The moment the hatch met its frame, darkness stole their vision, replacing it with unreliable black and nothing else. The way down seemed to go on forever, as if it there was simply no bottom to it at all. Darkness had its way of being long and distancing, Al knowing this from spending the last three years alone during the night due to his lack of a body.

Eventually, Al's foot rung with the sound of hitting something hard. They had reached the bottom. After placing both feet on the ground and stepping away to allow his brother passage, the suit of armour felt at a loss of where they could be. There was one thing that proved otherwise, the sound of animistic noises, snarls and growls each with its own pitch and roughness. At first there was the unnerving possibility that they were among the beasts, but none of the voices got closer. Even with the ignorance of what lived in the north, it was almost obvious that these weren't natural creatures.

It didn't take long for Ed to join Al at the bottom, crashing into his brother only moments after getting to stable ground. "Sorry Al. You know what that is?" Ed asked.

"They sound kinda like... chimeras..." Al whispered the final word, as if it didn't belong in that sentence.

"That can't be true though," Ed mumbled. They had been given enough reasons why no alchemists existed in Drachma. However, when the noises reached Ed's ears for the first time, that statement seemed to lose its form; melting into a possibility. _'Can it?'_ Ed asked.

With Ed and Al's sight reduced to that of the blind, they had no choice but to stumble around in search for a wall or some kind of light source. The moment Ed found the edge of the room; he could hear metal clashing with nails and teeth; something trying to slip out and wouldn't mind getting a piece of him while it was at it. There seemed to only be one or two, the others sticking to joining in with the chorus of noise.

Suddenly, a faint light flickered on, illuminating the room enough for the two of them to see. Al walked away from the simple switch, looking around at the metal room they had found.

Just as they thought, several animals watched the two of them from behind the bars; some curious by the new faces, others licking their lips as they stared at the smaller brother, and the remaining seemed to not care in the least about them. There were several animals, white bears with demonic teeth that had trouble using its hind legs, a pack of wolves with powerful husky bodies with some having malformed limbs, and a few others that were much too foreign or malformed to know what it could have been spliced together to make them.

"We better be careful, Ed," Al warned, turning away from the abominations.

"We will," was the only thing Ed said before the two of them walking down the hallway in silence.

The halls were silent, with only the _clank_ of Al's feet. By the faint lights, it was easy to see the different cells on either side of the hall. No sound came from any of them. A chill crawled down Ed's spine, unsure about whether or not he should peer into any of them; unsure about what he'd find. _"Probably some dead chimeras,"_ he reasoned, looking into only one cell for a brief moment. That was enough.

The corpse within was not an animal, holding a form that had to be human, much to Ed's displeasure. The body was broken, bloody, and thin, showing signs of starvation and torture. Bile rose in his throat by seeing the body in there, but what had to be the most fearful aspect was the clothing. They weren't prisoner clothes, but yet a dull blue colour; Amestrian blue. Feeling sickly, Ed couldn't help but look away from it, not daring to look anywhere but away from it. When Al did, he found other colours besides the familiar blue hue; Cretan green, Xingese being a dull gold, the most nerve-wracking of all to both brothers, Drachmen black. Seeing the shocking amount of black, the amount of their dead countrymen, made Edward shudder and refuse to look left or right.

Once out of the hell hole one would call a hallway and into a more brightly lit area, the air felt a little bit lighter without the smell of death lingering all around. "L-let's keep going," Ed encouraged his brother, tripping over his words at first. Al body shook from the sights before, Ed didn't blame him. However he did reply, "O-Okay."

The further down they went, it seemed more secrets came. After a little bit of wandering, the boy's found a room tinted red. Thankfully, it was not due to blood or gore, but from the substance in the several tanks; Devil's Blood.

Ed whistled lowly before approaching one of the large tanks, tapping on the glass once, "This stuff seems to fit with Isosif's notes, looks like it's another title for Red Water."

"The colour's different though," Al noted seeing that it seemed more red, a bright crimson, than the deep magenta colour they had seen from Red water. "It could be more concentrated than the kind we've found in Amestris."

"So I'm guessing that if they've got Red Water, then they must have something on the Philosopher's Stone," Ed spoke, his tone serious as he looked at the substance. If they could make this, surely they had some kind of progress with the legendary amplifier.

However, fate never liked giving an Elric a good hand.

A bright flash of white blinded Ed for a moment from the side, unable to see what the cause was. With a single cry of, "Brother!" Al's glove shot out and pulled Ed away from where he was standing. In mere seconds, icy spears shot out from the ground, long enough to send a lethal blow had Ed not be tugged away.

A man, who had previously gone unnoticed, rose up from the ground and stepped into the red tinted room. The spikes instantly melted away, no use being their anymore. There was no mistaking who this man was from moments before, further proof with the tattoo on his right hand. It was a Drachmen Alchemist.

Finally, Ed was allowed to let his instinct to take over, clapping his hands and transmuting his automail into a sword in mere moments. The older Elric had to admit, the feeling of transmuting his automail was a familiar and almost nice feeling to have once again; no longer burdened with the thought of death.

The moment the man plucked a dagger out from under his coat, Ed knew there was a fight on their hands. Both racing at the same time, Ed instantly noticed his speed, blocking his automail blade with his one hand, cutting into his shoulder with the other. The second the cold steel so much as touched the boy's throat, Ed leaped back.

Much to the Drachmen's surprise, Al rushed behind him and wrapped a metal arm around the man's throat. The moment he was able to knock him out, however, the man gripped Al's armour, a white glow illuminated the room. However, it was cut short the moment Al released the now limp, but living, body. Al's forearm held a large chunk of ice around it, a sign of the man's intentions.

When the alchemist didn't get up, Ed sighed. "Looks like the only thing he was good at was surprising us. Good thing he wasn't that good of a fighter," Edward glanced at the man for a moment, as he held his arm. He had gotten some hits in, and most likely more if Al hadn't been around.

"We should go brother," Al warned, staring intently at the entrance in which the man came in from. "There could be armed guards. Worse than him."

"Al, we could be so close-," Ed protested, unwilling to leave with this kind of evidence. Images of dead people, most likely human experiments, flashed in Ed's mind. Philosopher's Stone or not, the idea of Al as a test subject was enough to make Ed reconsider. However, the sound of a mass of footsteps echoing from the hall ahead forced Ed with a quick decision. "Alright fine! Let's go!"

Even with the bitter regret of not seeking the facility further, the Elric brothers fled minutes before the guards came in.

Everything in Krost City seemed normal after the short visit to the lab. Both soldiers and citizens acted as if nothing were wrong, going about their daily lives; just like they had last seen it.

Peace proved to be very fragile, almost as much as silence. The brother's were walking across the city, passing the large building that could remind one of old castles or fortresses. This part of the city was especially crowded, but the boys were used to it.

"Brother, what's going on over there?" Al asked, pointing out into the distance of the crowd.

It should have been difficult to spot something in a city like this, being that there was plenty of things going on all at once. However, the divide through the crowd wasn't a normal thing around cities.

"I dunno Al," Edward replied, watching the crowd like the many around him. The closer they came, the more details came into view. At first, it was fairly evident it was a big group. The more they came forward, it became evident that many looked worn and frustrated; lower class workers.

All it took was the group entering the square courtyard in front of the building. Peace shattered into a zillion pieces. All it took was a gunshot. Everything seemed to speed up, moving a mile a minute. Red stained the snow. People being shot as frequent as blinking. Screams drowned out one another. People were running in all directions. Guns sounding in a sickening beat to a deadly dance.

In a flash, Al couldn't find Ed. One second he was there, right in front of him, and the next he had vanished in a blur. "Brother!" Al yelled, even though his voice was no match for the noise around him. With Ed's small body, he probably had been swept away by the crowd.

Ed had no clue where he was. Once that one shot went off, more shots came and everyone ran. Then people kept bumping into him as if he wasn't there. Ultimately, he had been forced to move. _Don't fall. Don't fall._ That was the single thing on Ed's mind. By the looks of this crowd, one wrong move and he'd end on the ground. Nobody would probably notice even if he was at their feet.

Even though it felt like seconds, eventually the crowd was gone, leaving the dead in its wake. All that was left were the soldiers, some shaken and the rest still; all holding their guns as if to shoot again. As if the cold could affect someone's demeanour, the soldiers began their rounds to see if there were any survivors, though they seemed to care in the least if there were. In a sheer explosion of aggression and fear, many had died from either a gunshot or killed by the crowd itself, few were soldiers who had died in a more unique way.

Al stood alone, a small blood splatter on the side of his arm; probably because of one of the dead. His body rattled fearfully at the sheer amount of blood and bodies, but that wasn't the main reason. His brother was gone, possibly a victim of the tragedy. It took all the will Al had to look down at the ground, inspecting the bodies in order to make sure a blond boy with a red coat wasn't among them.

Eventually, Alphonse did find something lying in the midst. A pocket watch, polished and silver, speckled in red and white. Shakily, he picked it up and brushed off the snow and blood. Sure enough, on the silver surface was the symbol of Amestris. Only one person could have this in their possession. Just up ahead, only a few metres away, was a body enveloped in a dull red jacket.

"Alphonse!" at the sound of the voice, Al whirled around. Right in front of him was Edward. Relief filled him. He was alive.

In a silver blur, Al raced towards his brother, embracing Ed before he could pull away. "I-I thought..." he shuddered, his voice ringing with what would have been sobs. This was too much for the thirteen year old to handle. Never had Alphonse seen something as horrific as this, much less being in the middle of it.

Even Ed was having troubles with the morbid scene, the snow looking more crimson than white. "I-I'm okay. We should get going, Al. We'll go to another town. We'll come back here later," Ed told him.

"I don't want to come back," Al replied, fear enveloping his voice. For once, Edward didn't disagree; even though it could be their chance to get their bodies back. The scene in front of them was enough to change their minds on staying. Though Al could only see it, Ed could still smell the smoke from the guns and iron from the blood. Besides, Ed swore he couldn't die until he got his brother's body back, and it only seemed that this city would only see bloodshed.

After Al handed back the watch and Edward hooked it back on the belt loop moments after, the two left the scene. All the while they kept to the side, where the smallest amount of corpses lay. Ed only looked out once, spotting the dull red jacket in the midst of earthy tones, white, and red. He shivered. If he hadn't found his way to the edge of the crowd and squeezed into a small crevice in between buildings that only a child could fit in, then Ed could have been lying amongst the fallen.

If this was anything like war, Ed hoped he'd never have to participate in one.

Even after three days, the events of Krost City fell heavily on the boys' shoulders. It seemed that it was fitting for silence.

"It feels strange that we're heading back to Yegor," Al spoke up, his voice bouncing off the walls of the empty train car.

"Yeah, and unless we can get rid of the avalanche in the east, we're going to have to go around. There's a war going on with Creta, apparently." Ed stated, leaning up against the tinted window and curled into a ball. Peering outside, Ed watched light and dark blurs of grey pass by. It was strange how fast the body seemed to adapt. He had been in Drachma for a week, more or less, and his body had grown used to the cold climate, almost not bothered by it anymore. The air, now that it had lost its slight burning sensation, seemed more clean and fresh outside.

However, that made it all the more odd that he actually felt cold that particular evening.

The train car suddenly jerked, doors being opened moments later. This was the last stop to the South, meaning they were back where they had started.

Ed's muscles seemed to protest against him, wishing to stay in one place. Ignoring his sore body, Edward got off his seat and gathered his things; following Al soon after.

Seeing Yegor was almost a treat, besides the field of crosses by the train station. Somehow, even though Ed's watch told them it wasn't all that late, the skies were already casting colours of red, purple, and yellow. Unlike the forests and cities, the tundra allowed full view of the sight, the mountains and earth almost acting like a frame.

"Looks like it's going to be dark soon," Ed advised, looking up at the sky.

"Yeah, maybe we can stay at Eve's house for the night. She let us last time," Al replied.

"Can't see why not," Ed breathed.

It seemed to take twice as long as it did before for Ed, but eventually they crossed the town and made it to the familiar building outside of town.

Al knocked on the door, only to find it opening moments later. The familiar face appeared in the crack in the doorway. "Oh, Eduard, Alfons, what are you two doing here?" Eve asked, opening the door a little wider.

"If it isn't too much trouble, could we stay the night?" Al asked, hoping she would say yes. It was hard finding inns, or businesses in general, that allowed different currency, though they had found at least one in each town they visited. However, Ed looked tired, despite the fact they had spent most of the day travelling on the train; it would be nice if they didn't need to walk back and wander around the mining village for an inn.

For a moment, the woman didn't look at Alphonse, inspecting something else. However, she caught the question and opened the door wide for the two of them. "Da, no trouble. Don't worry," she told them, her voice faltering in one aspect, as if she was nervous over something. In response, the two boys walked into the building they had stayed in not too long ago.

"Sorry for the trouble. There was only one way to the East, it connects through Yegor's station," Al explained as his brother took off his jacket and shoes.

"I told you, it no problem," Eve sighed. For a moment she gave the armoured boy a confused look. "What about more direct route?"

"Avalanche," Ed interrupted, hanging up his red coat. "Anyway, we'll only be staying for the night."

"You two can stay in room you were in before, da? I cleaned it right after you left," the Drachmen told them, not needing to show them where the room was since they had been there before.

"That should be fine," Ed told the woman, leaving the two in the hallway to put his suitcase in the room.

The moment he left them, the Drachmen seemed to show more anxiety towards something, nearly shaking. Eve shook her head, her long ponytail swaying ever so slightly. Before Al could ask anything, she asked her own before, "Alfons, is he alright?"

"Yeah. Just something... bad happened in Krost City," Al answered, his mind flashing the image of red and white in his head. His body trembled for a moment with gentle clattering before he calmed down. Ed wasn't as energetic as he usually was; it was even evident in his voice sometimes. It made sense, seeing that harsh reality.

It didn't seem to satisfy their hostess. Her lips drew into a frown, looking more serious and cold. She peered over to where Ed had disappeared from sight before setting her gaze to Alphonse. "I don't think you two should leave next morning. Make sure he's okay, da? Never can be so sure," Eve explained to Al, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking.

Of course, he couldn't do that. It instantly prompted him to ask, "What do you mean?"

Eve said nothing in reply, only hurrying over to the closet. It took her several minutes to shift clothes and tools around the space before she stood up again. To Al surprise, she held a decently sized shovel. Then she approached him, her voice almost as cold as her next statement when she placed it in his hands,

"You make sure he is okay or you may be needing this very soon."


	8. Chapter 8

Eve's serious tone shook up the younger brother almost as much as her words. _'Is she suggesting...?_" Al thought, his body rattling again. He didn't want to contemplate it, not after the massacre. Almost instantly, he handed the shovel back. Eve said nothing back, as if suddenly becoming cold, before placing the shovel back into the closet and leaving the younger Elric alone.

It was funny how one statement could worry someone so much.

The house was quiet for the most part, Al helping Eve with the morning tasks after she came back from her morning hunt. There weren't many chores, but at least it would be some way to repay the woman for allowing them to stay a second time. Despite Eve's warning and Al's worry, the Elrics were planning to board the next train to the Western City, Travok, the next morning. However, it didn't explain why Ed still hadn't gotten up.

It was nearly eleven in the morning before Al finally decided to go upstairs to see if his brother was still sleeping. When Alphonse opened the door, he found his brother still in bed, curled up under the covers.

"Brother...?" Al spoke hesitantly, approaching the bed. At first, Al wanted to advice him to get up and get ready, but worry kept those words in his mind. That warning clung to him like a threat ready to be acted on in seconds.

"I'm-," Ed groaned, pausing for a moment before attempting a second time to make his voice work right. "I'm getting up." Slowly, Edward levered himself up using his arms, his flesh one trembling with effort. To Al's increasing worry, Ed seemed to be struggling with the simple action of sitting up, despite the fact that he had been in bed all morning. Al noticed his skin was pale as well, more than it should have been in room temperature. It was pretty obvious to see that there was something wrong with his older brother.

"Brother, if you're not feeling well then please just rest," Al instructed, worry laced in his voice.

Ed was hesitant to respond, he felt as if metal was scraping down his throat. His whole body felt like it was rebelling against him. He needed to go to the next city, but his muscles ached and his limbs left like they were made of the heaviest type of automail. His body seemed to like the idea of flopping back onto the bed and staying there. '_Dammit all...'_ he cursed mentally. Against his body's will, Ed spoke up, looking up at Al, "I'm alright..." However, the sudden coughing didn't help matters.

Al saw Ed's golden eyes were dulled with fatigue as well as the thin layer of sweat that stuck his golden bangs to his face. It was obvious to see that Ed was lying. Instead, Al rested a hand on Ed's shoulder and gently pushed him back down. "Just rest for a little bit, I'll be back in a second," Al advised before exiting the room.

Al's mind seemed to be racing as he rushed down the stairs as fast as a suit of armour could. He didn't understand, Ed did look a little tired yesterday evening but he surely didn't have a fever or trouble with moving around. Somehow, Ed had gone from faintly tired to seriously ill overnight.

"What is it Al?" Eve asked the moment Al entered the living room, busy cleaning off one of the few pictures in the room.

"I think Brother is sick," Al nearly yelled. That simple sentence seemed to take a serious effect on Evaline, her whole body flinching as her fingers trembled as if the small frame was difficult to pick up. Al swore she mumbled "Not again" before she put down the picture and silently walked past Al.

"W-where are you going?!" Al asked, following her to the entrance of the building.

"I'm getting doctor. You want to be sure, da?" she replied, her tone cold as last night, as he tugged on her winter clothes.

"Well, yes, but he really doesn't like doctors," Al replied truthfully. Even with Al's statement, Eve didn't slow down in the least. Once she was prepared for the outside, she looked over her shoulder.

"Too bad," was her last statement before she left the building.

Eve was true to her word, bringing over a doctor despite Ed's preference. The man looked more like a civilian than a doctor, his dark hair messy and not wearing one article of clothing that would fit a doctor's attire except for the case he carried.

However, the results of the examination were something beyond what Al wanted to hear. The words the doctor told him outside Ed's room didn't truly reach him as quickly as they could have.

"He says 'It not good,'" Eve translated, her voice wavering for a second. She stayed in between the Drachmen doctor and the Amestrian, acting as a translator.

"What is it?" Al asked fearfully.

There was a small conversation with the doctor and woman. Al couldn't help but feel impatient, he wanted to cut in on the conversation and ask. This was his _brother_ they were talking about, and it was Eve who got to hear the news first. Al did catch some things that was really off nerving, like the grimace from Eve and when the doctor shook his head and explained something further.

There was a pause of silence, where Al's voice rung out for the second time. "W-what did he say?"

Nobody answered him. Instead, Eve paid the man for his troubles and led the man to the door. He spoke one final thing in Drachmen before leaving. The moment Eve turned around to face the suit of armour, she asked, "You want to know, da?"

"Yes," was all Al could say. What truly could be so bad that he didn't want to know what Ed had come down with? The answer came moments later for the woman, who didn't meet his gaze for a moment.

"North Flu it its name, but it been dubbed 'White Plague' by many," Eve explained. "I...It appears very sudden, symptoms very bad; include weakness, sore throat, fever, cough. Practically it act like flu, very uncomfortable. It more stubborn than common flu though, targets younger people instead of older. It was cause for epidemic in Drachma... It kill many people, even healthy people; sometimes because they are too weak. Other times...infection gets too bad and body tries once more to fight it, doctor tell me when that happens, lungs will flood; they drown without being in water... It was a recent epidemic so some people do catch it even now, but that is obvious, cannot tell where though..."

_'Recent Epidemic? Killed many? Drown?' _those words clung to Al more than anything. It was too soon after he almost lost his brother, now his poor brother was facing something that seemed far worse.The description in itself made Al want to cry.

"Please tell me there's some way to help him get better...He's the only family I have left," Al couldn't help but sob out. If he were human, there would be no doubt he would be crying.

"There is medication," Eve replied with a frown and expression of pity. "It is in the West though, where plants can grow. Best medicine that would give Ed very good chance is in Xing's borders. However, that medicine is expensive, trading routes make sure cities get first pick, not smaller towns. To go there and back would take a little more than a week. Doctor didn't have any; he said he was sorry this happened."

"What if I took him to the Drachman-Xing border?"

"Doctor advised he stay warm and rest. I doubt the cold temperature out there would do him good, nor would travel. I'm sorry, but it the truth. I have no reason to lie; nothing to gain from it." Eve spoke, adding little, 'I'm sorry' to as comfort, and then returned to the room she kept her hunting equipment and game in, as if not wanting to look at the tragedy unveiling before her.

The hope seemed to be extinguished completely, especially with Eve making it sound as if there was no way for any medication to get to Ed quick enough. Al's voice rung out in a pattern that sounded like sobbing, curling up against the wall. '_This can't be happening... It can't...'_ the same sentences kept repeating in Al's head.

When Al finally returned upstairs, he found Ed sitting up in bed. The first thing that Ed asked his younger brother seemed to be the hardest question for Al to answer, "What did the doctor say?"

It took a few moments, but Al told him.

As if by routine, Al gently plucked the cloth off his brother's forehead, testing if it was dry by squeezing the fabric. Seeing not a drop seep out, Al reached for the basin on the nightstand with a couple bottles and a thermometer beside it, dipping the fabric into it. Once soaked, Al folded it and placed it back where it was before.

Even though it was the afternoon, Ed had been running a high fever since that morning before the sun even rose up. His fevers seemed to keep spiking after Al finally got it back down to a reasonable temperature only an hour or so before. It had been three days since Ed was confirmed to have North Flu; things were certainly not getting better, nor getting worse.

"Hey Al," Ed croaked, his voice still low and rough. Despite his headache, Ed forced his eyes open. He wanted to sit up, but his body was not in favour of the action. It always seemed tired, as if it wanted to sleep forever without being woken up again.

"Yeah?" Al asked, his voice dull. '_He's still awake,_' Al thought. Even though that could be considered a good thing, sleeping would be also beneficial. Nevertheless, Al listened.

"I'm sorry..." he answered, almost a whisper.

"Huh?"

"Just..." Ed started but paused for a moment, as if to find the right words. "When I get better, I'll search even harder so I can get your body back. I swear I will, Al."

For a moment, Al himself didn't know what to say. Here Ed was ill with a sickness that was possibly killing him and his mind was still devoted to their search. "Brother... just focus on one thing at a time," the younger brother advised.

Suddenly the door opened up, Evaline walking into the room. "Am I interrupting?" she asked, almost as if she were standing behind the door. Both boys shook their heads in response, yet the strange aspect was that Eve was already dressed for the outdoors.

"What is it?" Al asked, watching the woman for any strange movements.

"The Black Market," the woman answered, both calm and serious. "Places made at later time of Epidemic, now run by Ala. The Ala take items and sell them in different smaller towns."

Al shot out of his seat while Ed propped himself up with his elbow, both of them equally surprised. Suddenly there seemed to be hope, even if it was just a small one, it was still chance that they had needed. She was immediately granted their attention.

"You're kidding. Why didn't you tell us?" Ed questioned, trying to speak as loud as he could despite his burning throat.

"Checked with friends of mine, wanted to make sure there was any good shipments. No use telling you when there nothing good. New shipment from the West just this morning," Eve explained. "Sorry about before, not telling you earlier."

"So you're saying there's a chance there could be medicine from the West!?" Al asked. To him, it felt like a something too good to be real. Just like the progress of the Philosopher's Stone, it felt like this too would be taken out of reach at the last second and throw the brother's on the ground. Hopefully, it wouldn't hold that pattern.

The Drachmen's expression twisted into a smile and nodded, "Very good chance. I'm going there right now to sell some furs, so I can get it for you two, da?"

The woman turned around, about to exit the room before Al spoke up, "Do you think I could come?"

Eve sighed before turning around just enough to look back at the boys. Soulfire and gold seemed to inspect the black ones. As if they were no threat, she closed her eyes and replied, "The military is looking for you two. I doubt it will good for either of us. Besides, it is part of Drachmen culture to care of our guests, not kill them. Just trust me once more. I promise not to disappoint."

With three different pelts slung over Evealine Kolkov's shoulder, the woman continued through the snow. Barely anyone went to the Black Market, though it was a good place to find things not found in the South. She had two good pelts at home to barter with the town, but her best game was for the market.

The entrance was small and easy to find for someone who knew what to look for. Sure enough, the woman found the black marking that represented the Ala; a wing and sword crossed over one another with a circle around the two of them. _'For them to use this old place must mean they were having trouble running in town,' _Eve assumed, this sort of thing had happened before.

All it took was a knock on the door and her speaking in her native tongue, **"Evaline Kolkov; Hunter. I've come to trade."** It was quite sudden, but part of the stone moved, a door fashioned by a clever Alchemist long ago. The gunman that stood guard looked over the woman carefully before stepping aside.

Slipping into the lantern-lit tunnel, Eve called out once she exited the short tunnel. Inside the cave were several different items from all over; from essentials like weapons and food to unnecessary items like rings and cigarettes. **"Preevet! So it's true you needed to move market to this place?"**

"**Da, it's annoying but business is better than ever,"** a male trader called back. It seemed true enough, people she had seen in Yegor, including the young teenagers, were trading in several things for specific items; especially ammo and guns. How strange.

"**Nice to see you again, Kolkov! Catch anything good?"** another trader, a strong one with automail equipped to his left arm spoke up as the hunter made her way over to the man. Rebels always were interesting; from their rugged clothing style to their attitudes. One minute they would be serious, the next carefree.

"**Actually, I was wondering if I could trade some of these furs for Western medicine,"** Eve replied.

He man instantly got to work, looking over the many boxes that were not even open yet. As he rummaged through the box, he asked further, **"What kind?"**

"**The Xingese remedy that increases changes for one to survive the White Plague,"** the black haired woman replied without hesitation. Never was it good business to be hesitant, it was better to get to the point. Nice and blunt like how many Drachmens spoke.

The man stopped suddenly, looking up from his task. He shook his head once and rested his automail on the edge of the crate, **"Someone caught it, huh? Poor thing, that can't be easy on 'em."**

"**Da, you got any?"** Eve replied curtly.

"**If we do, it's unfortunately not all that cheep, sweetheart. It's hard to smuggle stuff from other countries. We risk lives to get that stuff. Let's see what you're willing to pay first,"** the man advised, eyeing the pelts as if to pick out one for himself.

She pulled off all three furs from her shoulder, stroking each pelt with her thumb, slipping it in between pelts like one would page through a book. Surely this would keep one person warm from cold nights. '_The wolf pelts are pretty and thick, but are uncommon. No way they'd __be able to equal to something from Xing,'_ she estimated, looking over the marvelous white pelts. Her eyes instantly fell to her third pelt, the snow lynx she managed to spot after tracking it for a good three hours, the one she had originally planned to sell for several different items. It would cost a lot, for its pattern, rarity in the Southern regions, and its soft fur.

"**The lynx pelt should be good enough, looks like it was a big one; definitely if you add in one of those wolf pelts. You could get both the Xingese but also some good pills for pain and fever," **the man interrupted her thoughts, giving her a toothy grin.

Her features twisted into a frown. She wanted to sell it for something else, especially the more improved gun she had her eye on for weeks. However, both her own words and an especially painful memory told her otherwise. For a moment, she struggled with a decision before finding her answer.

Alphonse nearly jumped the moment the front door slammed shut. Curious how the trade went, Al made his way down the stairs. "How was it?" he asked once his feet reached the floor.

He realized by the sole expression on Eve's face that something was wrong. Her hand clenched the small bag's handle, most likely the things she bought. She looked nervous, almost jumpy. "Tell you later. Right now... military officials coming... Won't matter if I got it or not, they find out who you two are; they lock three of us up. It won't be... pretty," the woman panted before an afterthought occurred, "How is Ed?"

"H-he's asleep," Al stammered, mind scrambling to think up something. They were so close to being back in the clear, and now one more thing wanted to stand in their way. All because the brothers went looking for a certain stone.

"Good. I have idea if you are good enough alchemist. It will be easiest on Ed if done right," the woman explained. She immediately rushed up the stairs, Al trailing closely behind her. It took mere moments to reach Ed's door.

"Can you dye someone's hair quickly? With alchemy," she asked, her voice edged in nervousness. She twisted the knob and walked back into the bedroom.

Al ducked into the room, his voice almost squeaking, "Yes, but how would that help!?" While it was obvious what she was suggesting, it sounded odd and unlikely of throwing off any soldier.

"You want to disguise your brother or hide him somewhere cold for who knows how long?" She questioned quietly in response.

"I hope you're right about this..." Al murmured before instructing her to collect the items required. In mere moments, Eve dashed out the door, coming back minutes later with the required supplies. Once the array was drawn, Al carefully lifted his brother up and placed him closer to the array. All it took was dipping the ends of Ed's hair into the substance before activating the array. The reaction was almost immediate, his brother's beautiful gold hair was consumed by inky black; just like a Drachmen's hair. In his own response, Ed groaned, his features twisting into a frown, before rolling over. For a moment, Al stood there, almost surprised; this might just work.

"Come on, you need to hide," Eve snapped Al out of his thoughts. Al looked back at his sleeping brother once more before exiting the room.

Time seemed to be cut short when there was a knocking at the door, causing both of them to freeze at the top of the stairs. Her mind most like scrambling as fast as Al's, the woman decided on something, "No time, just stand there like armour beside wall. Sound good?"

It was almost funny, since Al was armour in the first place. Although it risked revealing their secret that Al had no body, at least it wasn't as bad as Ed's. Hiding in the open didn't seem like the smartest idea, but the woman immediately went down the stairs and unlocked the front door.

It was followed by talking and footsteps wandering around the lower floor. Looking down the staircase, Al could see the black Drachmen uniforms on the two men, both holding guns in their hands almost casually. Everything seemed to move slower as the men inspected the bottom floor, seeming thorough and calculating.

Soon, the footsteps drew closer, making their way up to the second floor of the building. Instantly, the men noticed Al, staring at him for several minutes. Eve spoke up in her native tongue, as if explaining. Still, one man knocked on his chest plate once, as if listening for a specific noise. Once satisfied, the men marched over to the bedroom Ed was in. All Alphonse could do was stand there and wait for events to come as they may.

It took all had not to shake. '_Would they really shoot him if he's sick?_' Al asked himself silently. The answer lied within the experiences in Krost City. The human experiments, with prisoners and their own countrymen as subjects, and the massacre, where soldiers shot an unarmed crowd. There was little doubt in Al's mind; they would. They probably wouldn't even hesitate in shooting a defenceless kid.

That was what scared him the most.

If Al had a physical heart, it would be pounding madly against his ribcage once the adults walked into the room. He was almost waiting for the loud bang, wondering if their guns would decide the end or not. Instead, Al heard talking from all three; a quiet convseration as if their voices were the harsh winds. Out of all of the conversation, Al was able to catch a single name; Ivan. The name appeared several times, yet the shot never came.

Time moved back to its regular tempo, the soldiers inspecting a couple more rooms before Eve lead them back to the front door. The sound of the door opening and closing was a great relief.

Meeting up with Eve downstairs, Al instantly noticed the woman pulling out the bag from the closet that hid her shovel and gun. Quietly, she plucked out two small bottles. "I got them," she stated. "Sickness is still early, so he should recover fine with this stuff."

Carefully, the dark haired woman placed the bottles into his hands one by one. Al really couldn't believe it. Ed could get better without the worry of death weighing on their shoulders. Al wouldn't end up alone. Al stammered, "W-We'll pay you back. I promise."

Her next words shocked Al to the point he might've dropped the medication, not even able to comprehend it. She shook her head and replied, "Your money wouldn't do me good. It's fine. I didn't do it for money."

"W-why?" Al asked, dumbfounded. All the while he was thinking, '_Was this really happening?__'_There had been so many times where strangers had not treated them so kindly, sometimes because of Ed's title, other times for their strange looks. It felt strange, almost dreamlike, that a stranger that was supposed to be their enemy by country relations, was doing this for them; even thought they were strangers to her. Giving them a place to stay and food, risking her own safety by lying to soldiers, and buying the expensive medicine; it all seemed unreal.

Her reason seemed strange as well, yet it came out calmly, "Nobody deserve to bury their own family before their time, especially if it only family member left. I would not wish it on worst enemy."

Al noticed sorrow laced the woman's voice, yet he was curious. It was out of interest that he asked, "Have you had to bury someone?"

The woman looked up at Al, for the first time she looked older and more wearier of the world. It was then that she explained, "I seen a lot of people bury their own. When epidemic broke out less that a year ago; military was stupid. They quarantined their largest towns with military facilities. Pulled out most of soldiers there to keep their army safe; they did it to keep the infected out of the towns, not inside. Those left, including myself, had to try to live on until the virus slow down. With no trains running, that meant no resources from anywhere. People acted cruel and cold, stealing from each other, shooting one another in cold blood for one reason or another. I saw a sick child get shot, a man left out in the snow to freeze to death; horrible things like that occurred almost every day. Everyone did bad things before it slowed down, horrible things, including me. Even children did, anyone in Yegor that twelve and over know how to shoot a gun, have shot something; man or animal. Drachma could easily have a group of child soldiers. Actually, Ala and military got bigger due to them either loving to kill or because they felt these people were right in some way..."

The idea seemed almost crazy; except for the fact Al's own brother was a child soldier. His thoughts went to Alexei and his family. Had that cheerful boy, certainly no older than themselves, shot someone within that year? Did his little cousin, probably only four or five, see her own parents shot in front of her eyes? The morbid ideas wouldn't be far-fetched if Al had not seen the casualties in Yegor and Krost. Al's heart sunk even more as the conclusion was reached in his mind; they probably did.

Still, Eve continued on, "Soon, everyone gathered in groups, killed off infected and buried them. The group I was in tried to save people who caught it, very rare in situation. I tried to help too, that why I know early signs, but all died."

"It... It sounds terrible," Al spoke, his voice daring to leave that empty shell of a body. "Did you... loose someone too?"

It was then that Al realized the tears streaking down the woman's cheeks, at first slowly, one at a time, but becoming more like rivers the longer she spoke, "Eventually, my son, Ivan, caught it... The trains started working again a week or so later, but it too late. P-people advise me to shoot him, end his suffering... I-I couldn't... couldn't pull that _blin_ trigger on my baby. Even though he kept saying he was in pain, begging me to stop it... H-he was only eleven... A couple days later, my little boy... he died in his sleep...Now that my husband died year ago from the ongoing Cretan War and our son had died, I had no one. Now I just go out every blizzard to make sure his grave is still there, so I don't lose him forever."

Al couldn't help but feel sorry for her, as well as relate to her. Ed and himself had buried their mother when they were little, and still missed her even now. Though Al was sure of a conclusion his is head, he asked the Drachman, "So the reason you found me and my brother is because you were looking for your son's grave?"

There was only a nod from the woman. In a display of comfort, Al rested a glove on Eve's shoulder, though she didn't shrug it off. "Eve..." he spoke, but didn't know what to say. What would he have done if he had went through what she had? He didn't want to know.

She rubbed at her eyes, but continued to talk, "I had feeling the soldiers would assume Ed was Ivan from a distance... What I did for you and your brother was out of empathy. It hurts to bury your own flesh and blood. I've had to do it, what makes it so wrong that I pity you for what happen and wanted you not to suffer? Yegor was once big city before Amestrians raided it and destroyed most of it, and Briggs is there just because we lashed back and nearly took over North city. It's always been a back and forth of lashing out for each other's throats; Drachma and Amestris. It won't change unless we see we aren't monsters and our leaders let go of some of their _blin_ pride..."

It was then that Eve reached for Al's hand and pushed it off her shoulder, walking out of the hallway in a brisk pace. Al just stood there, unsure of how to look at this situation anymore. Drachmens were always made to look like cold and brutal monsters in class, back when he was little when he read through history books, as if they were all bad people. Even though they had done horrible things to their own, hearing Eve's story made him convinced; these people were ones that had adapted to their harsh life. Good people with broken lives.

Slowly, Al made his way back to Ed's room. For a moment, all was silent, except for the sobbing coming from downstairs. It was then that he noticed a picture frame lying face down on the nightstand. Picking it up, to Al's dismay he found a picture of Eve standing by a man with black hair and dark brown eyes. A child was in between them, very young by the looks of it, with messy black inky hair and brown eyes; Eve's family.

Staring at the portrait for several minutes, it nearly made Al jump when Ed growled, his voice soar and cracking, "Al, what the hell happened to my hair!?"


	9. Chapter 9

Ed knew how horrible it was to be held captive by ones body. When he lost his arm and leg, he was confined to a bed and wheelchair until his automail was functional enough. The North Flu held some of those same characteristics. Except it blurred the time and stole memories. The medicine seemed to have done its job, lessening his fever and pain. It seemed to take forever in the sick boy's perspective.

Which is what made it feel that much greater when Ed was back on his feet, now a survivor of the dreaded illness. He wasn't going to let anything stop him now. After breakfast they'd head straight to the train to continue their search.

"It's nice to see you up and about again. Lying in bed all day no suit you," Eve spoke with a small smile. Standing once again at her door to bid the two of them goodbye. "You sure you feeling alright? Wouldn't want you to rebound."

"Yeah, just a little tired," Ed replied, nodding. "By the way Eve; thanks." It was strange, this woman had gone from suspicious, a possible enemy, to friend in a matter of days. When Al had told Ed what he heard, Ed couldn't help but feel like he had misjudged the woman. Especially when he had been misjudged in the beginning of his career as a State Alchemist, it felt almost hypocritical.

"Do yourself a favour and take it easy; nothing stupid," she encouraged.

"I'll make sure he doesn't," Al piped up.

"Al!" Ed warned in a low voice. Even though Al was more mature, he was still the younger one; no older sibling liked the idea of being told what to do by their younger sibling.

Eve did something neither brother had seen; she laughed. It was short, but it seemed uplifting. It didn't take long for her to compose herself, but once she did she spoke, "Well...See you later, boys. Who knows, I might meet up with you in town."

With a quick good-bye, the two brothers left the building and their hostess behind.

Despite the good events of Edward's recovery and the continuation of their search for the amplifier, an ominous feeling hovered over the town. Nobody, not even soldiers, were present on the outer part of town.

"Where is everyone?" Al asked, a little worried. It seemed off-nerving that every citizen had vanished, yet the soldiers remained patrolling the streets.

"Dunno," Ed answered. Silence could be a very horrible thing, it always came before chaos arose and then afterwards. Silence was present the morning Ed displayed symptoms of North Flu, after the massacre took place, and before they attempted Human Transmutation. As if wanting to prove silence came before chaos, a gun went went off. "Damn it all," Ed growled. He had heard enough of that sound to last a lifetime, yet it still came. Was someone dying again? Was Drachma really this bloodthirsty towards its own people?

Against their better judgement, Ed and Al raced off to where the shooting took place, like a morbid dejavu reflecting days before. However, this time it was much easier to locate, especially when it seemed the whole town was present. Black clad soldiers had migrated with the people, who looked less wary of the other group despite their numbers. On a wooden stage, now stained in red, was soldiers with a line of people, none of which Ed identified. At first, it was vaguely unclear, except for the heavy weight of doubt, prompting him to give into the assumption. '_No, maybe it's,'_ Ed thought, his childish side trying to not think of the idea burdening him. However, the sound of the gun ending the next man in line made it painfully clear, throwing Ed back into the real world like it wanted him to face the cruel reality. It was obvious now.

Public Executions.

Ed's body moved on instinct, trying desperately to move, to save someone's life. The speed he moved at seemed dream-like, too slow to be real as the shots came time after time in a sickening pattern of a shot, then cries, and finally silence before it started all over again. Ed couldn't help but freeze when he finally made it to the front, Al not too far behind him. His body froze, every muscle tightening. Yet none would move further than that.

Everything sped up for the fourteen year old, almost too fast to be real. The last man stood there, or at least tried. His leg was bandaged, yet he was made to stand best he could. The stone cold expression as his sins were announced to the town as painfully obvious. Alexei's father.

Despite the fact, Ed could have moved, could have shouted, in attempt to save him, nothing came from Edward at all; as if frozen. Part of him saw himself with the gun's nozzle against his head for a simple misdeed that involved alchemy. The other, he was not sure.

Before he could truly process it, grey matter and blood littered the ground as another man fell dead to the floor. The last thing he expected was another shot, ripping apart the next soldier's skull. His attention shifted to the rooftops, a person standing there with a gun in shaky hands. Ed wasn't sure whether it was the people moving or Al pulling him back, but it snapped him back into the regular speed of time.

"Come on!" Al urged, his voice barely audible over the sound of people as they ducked behind a nearby building.

Almost as if by fate, they weren't the only ones left there. A small pack of boys from the mines were in an awkward formation, each armed. One struck Ed as too familiar, Alexei. He gave one look at Ed before speaking, "You help?"

"I'm not killing anybody!" Ed shouted, almost as if ignoring the raging fight just around the corner. Any moment and it would spread in the alley as well like a demonic disease.

"Strong only survive."

"It like killing animals, just more dangerous ones. You two killed animals before, right?"

"They won't let you live. They'll just kill you too."

It was daunting, hearing the boys speak their minds. By the looks of them, the eldest seemed not much older than Edward, the youngest holding the appearance of a thirteen year old. Only one thought entered Al's mind; child soldiers, these ones able to shoot with little hesitation.

Even Alexei, the once kind boy who worked hard to keep his family fed and happy, joined in with his own frozen tone, "Sorry, Eduard, but you and your brother are involved whether you like it or not. You join us or die."

Ed never thought of the idea of killing someone, but the moment he saw the pistol being held out to him, part of him knew this was the sick future that he could be faced with someday. Only it was after him today. His mind was torn from taking it, letting the other children's voices turn him against his feelings, the other insisted it wasn't worth it. '_I made a promise...'_ Ed thought sourly before hastily taking the weapon despite the disturbing foreign feeling it held. '_So I can't die today...'_

"We need to drop off my brother somewhere safe then," Ed spoke, his voice shaky. In the back of his mind, a small voice told him, _'I don't want to do this...'_

"Brother, no!" Al pleaded.

"He can go help women and kids, they heading north," Alexei spoke before small cluster of young rebels entered the fray.

"Al, you should be fine with your body. Go north, like they said," Ed spoke, eyes flickering to Al and the distancing figures of armed kids.

"But-" Al insisted. The armour stopped talking, staring into his brother's eyes. It was strange how much one could see of another through them.

"Go. North," Ed repeated. Despite his torn thoughts, Ed's feet were forced to move forward, towards the fray of battle. Towards hell.

The first thing Ed noticed as he caught up to the boys was the movement of the crowd. It was nothing like Krost City's massacre. There was no swarm of people running away, only the bullets flying in every direction like deadly arrows. The screams and shouting bore themselves into Ed's thoughts, throwing his body into a faster speed. Time and time again, Ed found it shocking what the body could do under this kind of pressure.

Racing through the once peaceful town, Ed spotted them through the mess of blood and slowly growing body count that was already beginning. Almost instantly, Ed's vision zeroed in on them, a shocking focus he obtained only certain times. The moment the group entered the alley, Ed spent no time catching up. Suddenly, the boys stopped suddenly. The eldest, examined it calmly before taking off the rope and hook, that had previously gone unnoticed by the blond, off his belt. Suddenly, one boy's arm shot up, aiming and firing without consent to the Amestrian. Even though he could have been shot himself. Whirling around, a small team of bloody soldiers stood on the other side, each prepared to shoot.

Instincts were finally able to be accomplished, Edward clapping his hands and slamming them against the wall. Electricity seemed to charge the wall before another one boxed the children in, a shield on all sides.

"Good job," Alexei stated. "Didn't know you were alchemist."

Ed was going to replay back before he realized the blood coating Alexei's left hand. Only it was not a smudge but a design. One that was much too familiar for Ed to pass off as nothing.

"Wait! Are-" Ed started to ask the other teen in an accusing manner, but wasn't able to finish his statement.

A voice called up from above,"Ladies, we move now, talk later,"

Both boys looked up at the group, now migrated to the top of the nearby building. Instantly, Alexei took hold of the still dangling rope and used the many knots in it to clamber up, Ed close behind. Icy shingles threatened every step to be their last. However, the real spectacle came from down below. The killing and the war that broke out by a single shot from a child.

"W-where are we going?" Ed asked, trying to shake away the horrible images from down below.

"City hall is place we need to secure," Alexei spoke, pointing off into the near distance. One gave a question to Alixei in their native tongue, who answered back before moving forward. Alexei shifted down one side of the roof before placing the bloodied hand on the snowy ledge, a white glow emmitting from under his hand as ice quickly formed, thickening and materializing a bridge between the space. Aexei walked threaded over it first before the rest of the boys. Some stray bullets whizzing by, trying to shoot him down. Before Ed could even assist the Drachmen boy, they continued by the same pattern for a whole block before descending back down by rope.

The worst part was yet to come; the large opening that was the courtyard. Adrenaline still pumping in his veins, all of them raced down the speckled pink pathway. The sound of guns drowning out their breath.

One moment, a tall boy was running beside Ed, the next he was gone. Daring to turn around, Ed discovered two things. The boy on the ground and the man diagonal from him, gun locked on them. The next second his seemed be become blank, a thought that moved so quickly that Ed couldn't process. Something primal that clicked in his brain. He lifted the gun and shot. He hit his target and red soaking the soldier's shoulder as he hollered in pain.

As if unfazed, Ed raced over to the boy, nearly shouting at him, "Hey, you okay!?" To his relief, a moan escaped the boy's lips, a good enough reply. Ed then pulled the body up, despite the groan of protest. Moving as quickly as he could to the largest building, Ed forced him to keep moving. Ed's morals continued to try to cling on, but time after time another soldier came, gun at the ready. Nothing to transmute with a dead weight on one side. Only one option. He had to shoot.

Though it seemed like it was at a snail's pace, Ed made it up the short flight of stairs with the wounded teen nearly hanging off him. Once inside, the child decided to make some noise other than groaning. "Thanks. You not so bad for a Amestrian Dog... Good shot too," the kid slurred, his breathing hitched by the run and laced by pain.

Ed gave a quick nod before resting him up against the wall. The eldest one spoke from upstairs, Ed looking up immediately as he instructed, "Take care of sealing first floor, Alexei is sealing up second floor."

"Someone's gotta help this guy!" Ed shouted back. The boy nodded, calling out for some sort of aid. Whether it be by his command or the frightening fact that someone could kill them all by bursting through; Ed secured the area enough to ensure nobody could get in easily.

Lucky for him, that remained to be his job until silence once again took its chilling hold. Ed was only sure it had ended when Alexei came downstairs, holding an alchemy-made knife in his hand and the gun in the other. "I-It's over," Alexei spoke, his voice hesitant as the Drachmen's whole body shook madly.

The moment Ed heard those words, the gun dropped to the ground with a clatter.

Once night fell, people started to celebrate instead of leaving for their homes. They had already buried the dead that were scattered along the streets and cleaned the blood off themselves as well as the memorial for all that had died. Neither Elric brother was participating though.

Ed hadn't moved from far from the building, just enough so he could in a medical tent with a few others. There was small relief that the boy he had helped was just a few rows down, but that didn't help the inner conflict in his head. It was like his mind had been hours behind from his body, and the moment it came up to speed Ed was locked in shock. He stared down at his hand, the flesh one that held the gun hours before still shaking.

_'What if I had killed someone. All it would've taken was just a little more...'_ Ed thought. The image of the blood spattering merged with the scene of public executions; chunks of grey mater and flesh littering the ground as the corpse fell. A small pile of the dead having their lives claimed by the Amestrian. _'I could've been a murderer'-_the **last** thing he wanted to be was that-'_Too close.. Way too close...Could'ved taken their lives, moral dead, family in grief, haunt me forever."_

"Brother?" came Al's voice, soft and like a whisper, but enough to pull Ed out of his miniature hell he had newly set up in his mind.

"I..I didn't even blink when I shot those people... It just... happened... I'm not even sure if it was..." Ed mumbled.

Al's cold hand stroked the boy's back trying to comfort him. He had to admit silently that Ed was looking better physically than mentally. Originally, blood had speckled his body all over, a streak of blood on one side, though Ed failed to notice until minutes after reuniting with Al."It's okay. You said you didn't kill anyone right?"

"Y-yeah, but..." Ed spoke, unable to finish it aloud. '_I came too close to killing someone today. Six damn times too close.' _He could recall each time now, his memory capturing it like it was a book; information. He could count how many; now that it was over. '_I'm never pulling the trigger of a gun ever again,'_ Ed promised himself silently, almost an afterthought in itself.

A figure made its way quietly to the brothers, Al looking at the person before calling them by name, "Alexei?"

Ed looked up at him, instantly noticing the characteristics that were no doubt plaguing his own face. The hollow look in his eyes, as if he wasn't quite back to reality yet either, the shaking body that didn't seem to want to stop, and the small frown.

"I...I'm sorry..." the boy spoke, tears beginning to well up again. Al wasn't sure whether those tears were from the events, what the other boy had done, or Ed's involvement, but it seemed to not matter. "I shouldn't have let you..."

"It's fine..." Ed replied, a small mumble out of anything. The boy managed to find a way to move his legs, sitting down beside the other participant. Al was sure that everyone was feeling this way, especially kids like them. Ed's metal hand twisted deeper into the thick blanket meant for comfort and warm as he added, "I kinda agreed anyway..."

"Still... I'm going to have to live with myself, for killing people, for dragging people into it... Everything I did... Even starting the first shot..." Alexei's eyes continued to stare at the ground as he drew in a shaky breath then exhaling before adding, "It just doesn't feel..."

"Real... right?" Ed replied.

The brown haired teen didn't speak this time, only nodding before pulling his own blanket around himself like it was a cocoon of some sort.

"Maybe tomorrow will be better," Al's voice cut through the silence. Two pairs of eyes looked up at the armour, interest sparking in their eyes through the murky look.

"Huh?" was their only response.

"I can't say I understand what happened, but this was for the future right? Otherwise it would be pointless," Al explained.

"Yeah... This is probably going to turn into a war if this keeps up," Alexei dared to speak, attention slowly showing in his green orbs. He chuckled, a ghost of what it could have been, but he continued to speak. "I didn't want to join in at first, but I wanted to protect my family and friends. I just didn't know the cost of it."

"A war? Sounds even worse, if this was just a taste of it," Ed spoke bitterly. He sat up straight, looking back at his younger brother. Even thought he preserved some of his innocence, his body was another story. "We need to go to Travok though..."

"I would not; Cretans and Drachmens are fighting each other. Bad news all around," Alexei shook his head, his voice serious. Neither boy wanted to ask why or how, there was no way they would just run into a situation like that when they had already seen two horrible scenes play out before them.

"We'll probably go back to Amestris then, continue looking from there. Once things get better, then we may try looking in Drachma again," Ed decided, determination seeping back into his eyes. It was a small amount, but it was there. Al couldn't have been more relieved.

"Yeah... someday when it better," the green eyed teen spoke as tears ran down both sides of his face. "I wish you luck then."

"Same," came the blond and the armour's reply.

It is almost ironic how bonds can appear in the most dreary of moments; a simple relation of understanding. It was strange how comforting it could be for another ot have the same problem. For some reason, Amestris sounded like an amazing idea.

Other than the mass of graves added to the large cemetery by the train, Yegor remained almost the same as before. Even when it came to be the last moment the brothers would see it for a long time if not at all. Miles had gone by, though Edward continued to keep pace with Eve and Al.

It felt like forever since they had seen the mountains so close before, or at least the ones that bordered Amestris and Drachma. The fact that a warmer and happier place being just beyond that line of mountains seemed like a fairy tale. It made no sense, no country was perfect. He chuckled, finding it almost strange one could think the way another did. However, he knew it was home to him.

The woman eventually stopped in front of a small path, bordered by two mountain ridges.

"Follow that path, it will lead you to Northern Amestris," Eve spoke a small smile on her face.

"Thanks, Eve," Ed spoke, Al nodding in agreement. Suddenly, Ed realized the weight around his neck, pulling off the goggles before holding them back to the black haired woman, "Almost forgot to return these."

Evaline asked, "You sure you don't want them?"

"They're your son's right?" Ed asked. Silence his only answer from the woman, only a nod. "It's fine, I made it here last time without them, I should be okay."

"Alright," she agreed, taking the goggles out of Ed's hand. With the simple return, the woman began to head her own home, to the north. She turned around only one as the boys headed for the path south.

"Good-bye," the brothers called, a final goodbye to an unlikely ally.

"_Pa-kah!"_ she called back. "That Drachmen for good-bye to a friend!"

Despite the saddening experiences the two Elric brothers faced in the cold northern country, known as the Mighty country of the north, both Ed and Al didn't feel as they should. Ed smiled for a moment, the first time since the battle. '_Drachmens are pretty strange people,_' Ed decided to himself.


	10. Epilogue

Epilogue

Twenty-one year old Edward Elric shivered at the cold temperature circling the North Cretan town, pulling his brown coat around his body in order to keep warm. "Damn, it's cold..." Ed muttered to himself. '_To think I got used to it once,'_ Ed thought, nearly chucking at the idea ever so slightly.

'_How ironic is it that I'm thinking about that trip when I'm at Drachma's Cretan border?__'_ A question came to himself. To Edward, it felt so long since he had seen the rolling hills of his hometown and Winry's warm smile, being only three years ago. However, Drachma felt like nothing shorter than forever ago.

Suddenly, something slammed into him, throwing him off-balance for a second before regaining his balance. However, the other person wasn't so lucky. Snapping wood and a round of dull _thuds_ sounded.

Looking over at the one who caused the collision. Instantly, he dropped to his knees to pick up the scattered fruits and vegetables, whether they were bruised or not. "I'm sorry about that," the blond man apologized.

The little girl, most likely just entering the teenage years, replied, "It fine." The accent was an easy one to recognize; Drachmen. Once the items had be placed back into their somewhat damaged containers. The girl stacked the three small crates on top of each other. Ed frowned, by the looks of its height, it would be far over her head. With that calculation, he commented, "You're carrying quite a bit of stuff."

The girl shifted her weight from one foot to the other, focusing on the crates as she played with the ends of her shoulder-length hair. "D-Da, I guess it is," she spoke, her voice small. "Business I work for had really large shipment today. I wanted to help."

"Let me help with some of it," the words came out of Ed's mouth faster than he expected it, not regretting them though.

The girl's body went rigid, but asked nevertheless, "Are you sure!?"

"It's just a little detour. My train doesn't leave for a little while longer," Ed reassured her as he picked up two of the three, allowing the girl to pick the last one up.

The Cretan streets were a mass of crowds, but the girl acted as if this was a simply obstacle that could be easily overcome. In fact, Ed was sure she would've been easily slipping through the ground if not for the heavy load in her arms for the most part.

After travelling into the marketplace of the town, the girl leading the way for the most part. Eventually, the two of them came to a group of people who with only a couple trucks lined up, only two trucks filled and the third in progress.

A man looked over his shoulder, as if sensing the company of someone else. Instantly, he noticed the young girl. With a smile, he greeted her "Sofia, you got everything?"

The girl legs moved briskly under her, calling out too him, "Da, Big Brother. Everything!" With that, Sofia allowed the man to pick up the small crate using his large arms. Depsite the younger sister's lack of strength, the youth made it look easy to place the cargo into the truck. As he busied himself with rearranging the items, Sofia added, almost like an afterthought, pointing at the young man. "He helped though!"

The man turned around to fetch the other crates Edward was carrying, eyeing them with his green eyes. "Thanks..." the man trailed off during this sentence.

"Edward Elric," Ed introduced himself casually as the weight on his arms lifted. The man stopped midway through tossing the crate into the truck, whirling around before his eyes examined the other male. His eyes widened, as if he had made an important discovery, "Eduard Elric?! Wow...You grown a lot!"

"What the hell does that mean!?" he fumed, his voice rising in tone. It would've gotten worse had he not looked over the man himself. Messy brown hair nearly covering his green eyes, one side obtaining a scar, barely noticeable unless one was looking for it. Ed's golden eyes suddenly widened, "Alexei!"

The man, known as Alexei years before, chuckled. "It been a very long while."

"Yeah. Six years I think?" Ed spoke, calculating in his mind as the Drachmen took the final crate. '_It was the year 1913...and now that it's 1920..._ "No seven actually."

"Somewhere around that much," the other man agreed turning back to the Amestrian. Suddenly, he changed the subject, a small smile appearing. "You find what you looking for?"

Unlike before, Edward didn't hesitate nor look away. He stared right into the Drachmen's eyes ans replied. "Yeah, just doing some travelling now. I have an Alchemy theory to prove." Suddenly, memories of two boys talking about the future appeared in his mind, prompting a question he may have never thought of without it. "What about Drachma, is everything doing better than what I last saw?"

As the straight face grew into a smile, Ed felt a surprising relief draw over him. "Very much better," Alexei spoke, almost in a sigh before explaining, "The Civil War went good, took 4 years or so to win though. We're beginning to create better foreign trade routes as well as nation-wide ones. Things are improving slowly, starting with the government and fixing other affairs like with other nations. We're beginning to work on another form of government too."

"So is Amestris," Ed added, more recent memories filling his head. "The new Fhurur is working on a democracy instead of dictatorship. It looks like both of our home countries are doing better now."

"It good to hear," Alexei concluded. "Maybe finally, we can have better treaty than last one. It suck very bad."

"Yeah," Ed chuckled. Idly, he checked his pocket watch that he had aquired on his travels. It felt strange not to have one in his pocket, despite the fact he was no longer a State Alchemist. The clock simply read _1:20_ but that was enough to send Edward to cursing, "Aw, shit! My train's leaving soon. I've got to go."

The man nodded, understanding in his eyes,"Alright, but when you finish theory, you let me try, in Travok. Got it?"

"Sure!" Edward agreed, beginning to already walk away from the small group of Drachmen. "Maybe then you can see my country."

Edward was close enough to see the nod of the man's head, before he spoke once more, "Deal. _Pa-kah, _Ed."

Edward actually knowing this Drachmen word, answered back the same, "_Pa-kah."_ With that, the two of them separated. As Edward continued down the street, snow flakes fluttered ever so gently down into the Cretan streets below. It cared not for what was down below, nor what problems those were facing. Ed only looked up from a brief moment, a smirk on his face before he continued on his way.

_'There are rumours in Amestris that the Drachmen race was surrounded by snow for so long that it froze their hearts and made them brutal and dark, like monsters. Amestris is probably considered the same way. However, where you come from really doesn't matter, I guess. Sure, it helps define you, but that doesn't mean much. We don't have to fit those stupid rumours. It's why Amestrians are not all blood-thirsty and want nothing more but to expand their lands and Drachmens aren't all as cold as the place they live. It doesn't matter if we're black as soot or white as snow, we are who we want to be; that choice is for every single person to make on their own.'_


End file.
